What is recorded here

Grave Yard in County Kilkenny stands on a slight ridge above the valley floor, watching the land in every direction. Its medieval church and dense rows of headstones mark centuries of burial, while older earthworks hint that people lived and worked beside the dead long before the stone wall closed the smaller section. The place is not a forgotten ruin but a continuous witness, holding human memory beneath open sky.

On a slight ridge in the valley floor with good views in all directions. The field surrounding the church has numerous earthworks (KK009-013005-) indicative of settlement, possibly associated with the church. Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 310-12) describes the various references to the church and parish of Aharney, with its various different spellings since the 13th century. The medieval church (KK009-013001-) is located in the SW quadrant of a large rectangular graveyard (dims. c. 70m NW-SE; c. 75m NE-SW) defined by a low earthen bank (int. H 0.4-0.65m; ext. H 0.8-1.1m; Wth 1m at crest; overall Wth 2.5m) with a high stone content. There is a possible entrance (Wth 3.9m) towards the N end of the E side and another (Wth 2.8m) S of the SE angle. Only the SW portion of the graveyard remains in use and this smaller section of the graveyard (dims. c. 47m NE-SW; c. 44m NW-SE tapering towards the E to c. 25m) is enclosed by a 20th-century stone wall which is not indicated on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map but is marked on the 1900 revision. The graveyard is situated in the SW portion of a larger sub-rectangular earthwork (KK009-013005-). Within the former chancel of the church, which was converted into a mortuary chapel, there is a wall monument (KK009-013006-) and a graveslab (KK009-013007-). The more recently enclosed graveyard is densely populated with headstones dating to the 18th, 19th and 20th-century. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 16 July 2018

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.