Grave Yard

Well preserved ruins of small pre-Norman Kilrush Church (LI005-009----) known locally as Old Church and or St Munchin's Church now standing in a small housing estate accessed off the Old Church Road. The church is a national monument in state guardianship No. 366. On the first ed. OS 6-inch map, Kilrush [Kellros] Church is depicted standing in E quadrant of square-shaped graveyard with Kilrush Cottage immediately to SSW. The church and graveyard are located in St. Munchin's parish in the Diocese of Limerick. It stands 155m N of the River Shannon and 2km SW of Thomond Bridge and Limerick City. No surface remains visible of graveyard which now occupies the site of a small green area surrounded by a modern housing estate constructed in the 1980s. In 1980 prior to the construction of the housing estate six excavation trenches were opened by Larry Walsh on the footprint of the development in an attempt to identify the extent of the graveyard at Kilrush. The excavation uncovered the remains of 39 burials the majority of which were located in Trench 1 on the S side of the church close to the Quinlivan window. A high percentage of these burial belonged to infants suggesting the presence of a children's burial ground probably dating from the post-medieval period (Donnelly and Murphy 2008; Lynch 1998, 110). Test excavation was carried out by Edmond O’Donovan under licence No. 98E0579 before the construction of the Northern Lower Interceptor Sewer pipeline at Kilrush Church. A single test-trench was opened c. 40m from the church on the North Circular Road in an attempt to find and evaluate any outlying archaeological features. No archaeological deposits or indicators were found in the test-trench, where a natural, sterile soil profile was identified immediately under the existing road surface. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 23 April 2018

A small pre-Norman church, likely early medieval in date, associated with St Munchin; it represents an important ecclesiastical site linked to the spread of Christianity in the region.