Graveyard in Finnan

In a small valley surrounded by gently rising land, in pasture. According According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 101), in Finnan townland, ‘An ancient church stood here, in the glen, about midway between the new and old roads to Castlecomer. They call it, in English, “the Monastery”; its Irish name is Kill-Finnawn, which means, according to all the old people, not the Church of the townland of Finnan, but the Church of Saint Finnan. Some remains of the church and of the earthen rampart that enclosed it, were to be seen here till about 1850. They were then removed by Mr. James Hendricken, the tenant of the land, who further destroyed the site by building a fence, and cutting a deep water-course, right through the centre of it. In the year 1890, the writer saw human bones projecting from the sides of this water-course’. O'Kelly (1969, reprint 1985, 39), writes that, 'the Monastery 30 acre field was drained under the Land Project Scheme in 1961-62'. The location of the church and graveyard are not indicated on the 6-inch or 25-inch editions of the OS maps, however, the location was identified during fieldwork by The Sites and Monuments Record Office in 1987. According to Carrigan (ibid.) a holy well (KK005-063004-) was located within the enclosure. There does not appear to be any remains of the church (KK005-063001-) or graveyard visible at ground level. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 30 April 2018

A medieval graveyard; associated with an ancient church mentioned in early 20th-century sources. Its significance lies in its potential ecclesiastical and historical links to early Christian settlement in the area.