Graveyard in Cornaroya

This record refers to a graveyard associated with a medieval parish church (MA118-022008-). No visible trace of the medieval church survives and the original extent of the early graveyard is unknown. The current rectangular graveyard encloses an early 19th-century Church of Ireland church, St. Mary’s (NIAH reg. no. 31215049), which may incorporate remnants of the medieval church in its fabric. The graveyard is enclosed by modern wall, outside which it is bordered on the W, N and E sides by residential and commercial buildings and on the S side by a street, Church lane. It is accessed at the NW corner by a narrow tree-lined lane leading from Market Street and at the SE corner by a gateway opening from Church Lane. The current church, which was deconsecrated in 1993 and is now used as a public library, stands in the N half of the graveyard, and is surrounded by 18th-, 19th- and early 20th-century headstones, table tombs and box tombs. A limestone ashlar mausoleum (NIAH reg.no. 31215050), which was erected by James Cuff for Gregory Cuff Esqr. in 1811, stands in the NE quadrant to E of an enclosed array of ten close-set box tombs of the Knox and Cuff families. Small uninscribed stone gravemarkers of unknown date are also scattered throughout the graveyard. Two 18th-century graveslabs are on display on either side of the entrance in the N wall of the tower at the W end of the church; these were taken from the interior of the church during renovation works in the 1990's (Dolan 2010, 87-88). A 17th-century wall monument (MA118-022009-) is mounted high on the external face of the N wall of the church towards its E end. In 2020 archaeologically monitored (20E0533) landscaping took place in the graveyard (Zajac 2021). At the N limits of the graveyard at ITM 519263 764383 human bone fragments were recovered. These were not in a grave but incorporated into a layer of 19th-century fill. A sample of the bone, the midshaft of an adult femur, was radiocarbon dated and returned a medieval date of 1450-1528 Cal AD. It is likely that the bone came from medieval levels which were disturbed by 18th/19th-century activity in the graveyard. The graveyard is no longer in use for burials. Attached images: MA118-022013-_01.JPG Knox family tombs, with Cuff mausaoleum at left MA118-022013-_02.JPG 19th-century headstones MA118-022013-_03.JPG Graveslab dedicated to William Smith d. 1719, at E side of church doorway. MA118-022013-_04.JPG Graveslab dedicated to Hugh Evens d. 1718, at W side of church doorway Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 10 June 2022