Graveyard in Murher

Church and graveyard described by Toal (1995, no. 935) as follows; 'Murhur Church (in ruins), Graveyard (KE006-015001-). The 8th century genealogy of the Ciarraige refers to Murhur (Mag nAirthir) as a church site which was founded by Bishop Fáelán of the local ruling dynasty (BAR 102, 1982, 329). From at least the 14th century it was administered by the Augustinian canons at Rattoo. Today the ruins of the old parish church can still be seen in the graveyard'. In 2011 a graveyard survey carried out by Ann Frykler and Robert Hanbidge of Headland Archaeology Ltd. recorded the following details: 'The graveyard for the most part follows a rectangular plan and is enclosed by roughly dressed rubble stone walls with rubble stone coping. There are two entrances located in the northwest corner of the graveyard. The primary entrance consists of a gated entrance which is flanked to the east by a historic stile. Unfortunately much of the church ruins [KE006-015----] in the central area of the graveyard are overgrown with ivy. The oldest grave recorded within the graveyard bearing a date of 1793 commemorates Mick Harahe (Harahan) (Grave No. 71). The boundary walls surrounding the graveyard are of dressed mortared rubble stone with roughly dressed rubble stone coping. For the most part the walls are in good condition with occasional areas of ivy overgrowth occurring in the northwest and west. Dressed rubble stone piers form the entrance and are capped with roughly dressed rubble stone capping. The graveyard is accessed from the car parking area to the north of the graveyard via a single pedestrian entrance which is flanked to the east by a historic stile. All the entrances are in good condition. The first is a pedestrian entrance and consists of a pair of square‐profile dressed rubble stone and tooled limestone gate piers with roughly dressed rubble limestone capping. Both piers are in excellent condition and are well constructed. There is only one tomb present at Murher Burial Ground which is a named tomb (Grave No. 170). The tomb is located in the northwest quadrant of the graveyard and is in very good condition. It is a fine example of a modest Neo‐Classical inspired design and is expertly crafted from tooled limestone which features an unembellished cornice to the eaves. There are 183 named headstones and plots within Murher Graveyard. For the most part these are in good condition. The majority of the graves date to the later 19th and 20th centuries, however there are more recent graves from the 21st century. There are 11 unnamed or illegible headstones and plots at Murher Burial Ground. One named gravemarker (Grave No. 157) was recorded within Murher Graveyard. In total 17 unnamed gravemarkers were recorded within Murher Graveyard. Only one lintelled grave (Grave No. 106) was recorded within Murher Burial Ground. This grave was located in the south of the central area of the graveyard and consisted of a number of horizontally laid slabs covering a burial. Miscellaneous No. 01: Located in the south‐western corner of the graveyard is an unnamed gravemarker (Grave No. 214) on which, to the rear (west) elevation was a simple inscribed cross Architectural features - Miscellaneous No. 02: Consists of an apex stone block with a plinth (also known as an acroterion) which was located at the gable end at the apex level of a pitched roof. The hole in the centre of the plinth would have originally accommodated a stone/iron finial, possibly a cross. This piece may be associated with the roof of the church and indicates that the gable ends most likely had tooled limestone coping. The location of this item to the east of the church supports this idea. Miscellaneous No. 03: Located close to the Miscellaneous No. 02 is a broken piece of a finely tooled stone finial (Plate 30). This finial may have formed the finial of the church roof. Miscellaneous No. 04: Located close to Miscellaneous Nos. 02 and 03 is an unusual carved stone slab. This broken stone has a drilled hole at one end. The exact function of this stone is unknown, it may possibly represent a wall mounted plaque or a more elaborate headstone' (Hanbidge 2011, 5-11). See attached plan of church and graveyard courtesy of Robert Hanbidge Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 10 June 2022