What is recorded here

Grave Yard is a square graveyard in Churchtown, County Cork, where an altar tomb dated 1859 and a chest tomb dated 1845 still stand inside an earthen bank. The place once held the parish church of Churchtown, a building local tradition says began as a coffee house before becoming a church in 1792 and disappearing in 1894. Now the church is gone, but the graveyard remains: a quiet, overgrown room where the town keeps its dead and remembers what it no longer sees.

Shown on 1842 OS 6-inch map as wooded area (c. 55m N-S; c. 175m E-W) with cruciform church in centre; marked as graveyard (c. 40m x 40m) on 1905 OS 6-inch map. In pasture, c. 450m to WSW of Churchtown village. Square area enclosed by earthen bank (H 1.5m), stone-faced internally on N and E sides, externally on W side; forming townland boundary on S side. Entrance on E side through gate with stone-built mortared piers. Interior slightly raised and overgrown; ground surface uneven. Inside entrance is altar tomb with date of 1859, chest tomb of 1845 and unmarked vault; two low burial markers noted near NW corner. No visible surface trace of church; this was C of I parish church of Churchtown which, according to local tradition, was originally built as a coffee house but had a tower and belfry added when consecrated in 1792; it was demolished in 1894 (Grove White 1905-25, vol. 2, 182-3). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

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