Grave Yard

In an upland area. Associated with St. Kieran of Ossory. Headstones date from 1750. Described by Carrigan as 'Knockseerach graveyard is all a sheet of rock, without as much as a single inch of earth to cover it. The graves have to be quarried and then, having received their tenants, are filled up with rocks, not even a scraugh being available to lay over the top. Nevertheless it was, till recently, a favourite place of sepulture, and corpses have been known to have been carried here for interment from very long distances. There are about a dozen inscribed monuments, the oldest of which dates from 1750. The graveyard was enclosed with a good wall about 20 years ago'(Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 129-130). Depicted on current edition of the OS 6-inch map as an oval shaped graveyard (int. dims. 29m N-S; 45m E-W 45m) with church site in northwest quadrant of graveyard. The iron gate entering the graveyard was erected c.1904. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 08 March 2010