Grave Yd. — Ardbeg

Stradbally Church and Graveyard described by Cuppage (1986, 363-4, no. 980) as follows; 'A well-preserved rectangular church [KE035-018002-] situated in a graveyard on the S shores of Brandon Bay. There was a parish church here by 1302 (Cal. doc. Ire., V, 295), and in 1398 'Thomas, son of John de Geraldinis' was the rector of 'Stradbalybog' (Cal. papal letters, 5, 106). The church was in repair in 1615 (TCD Ms 2158, 94) but was in ruins by the middle of the 18th century (Smith 1756, 71). The present remains, 15.7m x 5.67m internally, are of late 15th/early 16th century date. The interior of the church is confused by overground tombs'. Graveyard surveyed in 2010 by Lar Dunne and described as follows; 'Stradbally Church and Graveyard is situated on flat reclaimed pasture 0.8km from Stradbally Strand in Brandon Bay on the north side of the Dingle Peninsula and 3.5km west of the Castlegregory. The massif of Mount Brandon forms a stunning background to the west while the spine of the Slieve Mish rise immediately to the south in front of which is the village of Stradbally. A rock-art boulder (KE035-018001) is also situated in the south-west corner of the graveyard. The church and graveyard are denoted on the 1stEdition of the Ordnance Survey 6”map, sheet 035 of 1841. The rectangular church is denoted as in ruins while the graveyard is sub-rectangular and not fully enclosed with the north and west walls of the graveyard forming part of the boundary. Furthermore, access to the graveyard is from the west and not from the east as is the situation today. Stradbally House, built by Richard Hickson as a hunting lodge in 1800, is denoted immediately to the east of the graveyard. In 1841 the land on which the church and graveyard were built on comprised of long narrow fields in the dune slack and liable to flooding. By 1896 the graveyard was slightly extended and now fully enclosed the church ruin and the trackway up to continued past on its northern limits to link onto the roadway to the beach on the east. Today the trackway from the west is completely gone and the graveyard has extended as far as the roadway on its east side from where the only access into the graveyard is gained. The small graveyard and ruined remains of the church at Stradbally are in a very poor state of repair. Negotiation around the western half of graveyard is achieved with difficulty as there is no formal path. Numerous architectural fragments are dispersed around the church including several water spouts, some of which have been re-used in nearby collapsed tombs. Many interments are placed in above ground tombs, thirty-seven of which were recorded in the course of this survey. Through time many of them have become overgrown neglected and collapsed and often lack any named memorial plaque (Plates 6, 7, 9-11). Not all the tombs are in bad order and there are a few different forms of tomb of which the majority are ‘strong-box’ and house-shaped types. Preferential burial in above ground tombs is a common feature in several graveyards in West Kerry and while this appears to be a tradition the more practical reason for it is that the burial ground is stony and rocky and often impossible to dig. However, in the case of Stradbally it is likely to be tradition rather than ground conditions, unless of course it was because of the wet, flooding nature of the land in the past. Apart from tombs there are sixty four headstones of which roughly half comprise unnamed unhewn gravestones some of which mark stone built lintelled type graves. Stradbally Graveyard is partially bounded by a random rubble wall of local sandstone bedded in mortar and capped with ‘soldiers’. The eastern boundary wall along the roadside and the northern boundary wall are in good order, albeit with a good growth of ivy and average 1.5m in height. The boundary walls along the south, west and north west are lower and not as well built and sections of the them are in poor repair, partially breached and covered in ivy and other growth. Entry into the graveyard is gained via a pair of modern galvanised gates that are set between two square substantial rubble stone piers. Pathways are poor and generally informal. An overgrown gravelled path partially extends around the interior perimeter at the west and north boundary walls. Although along the north side it is now fenced off by Kerry County Council. The removal of sod along the inside of the east or roadside boundary wall, has created an incidental ‘pathway’ that has partially exposed a child’s burial. The grave is manifest as a small rectangular cist or box like feature (0.75m x 0.50m) just inside the entrance gates and is not identified above ground by a headstone of any kind. The small box is simply made of thin slates set on edge. Twenty-five unnamed tombs were recorded in various states of preservation. Many are collapsed or partially collapsed and open. Others are only manifest as grass or ivy covered stony mounds. Several of these tombs are very old and possibly date to the late 17th and 18th or 19th centuries. Some are situated in the western half of the collapsed area of the church. Indeed one tomb (70) is partially collapsed and open tomb is built as a narrow lean type tomb against the south wall of the church immediately inside the south doorway. Clearly visible inside are the coherent remains of coffins. The collapse has also revealed an intra-mural stoup that had been concealed by the tomb. There were thirty-eight named headstones recorded at Stradbally graveyard associated with formal grave settings. There were thirty-six unnamed headstones in total recorded in the course of this survey. All of the unnamed headstones are simple grave markers of unhewn local sandstone and are disposed around the graveyard. Some of them mark a number of lintelled graves that are partially exposed on the surface especially around the south side of the ruined church. There is a mass grave of some of the ill fated Port Yarrock that sank in Brandon Bay in January 1894 after a voyage from Santa Rosalia. The remains of the Port Yarrock are still visible a little west of Stradbally on the beach at Kilcummin at low tide. The majority of the crew members were buried in another mass grave at Killiney graveyard while the remainder were interred in Cloghane. The mass grave situated against the north-east boundary is simply marked with a small headstone'. See attached plan and photographs of graveyard taken from Dunne 2010. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Lar Dunne Date of upload: 6 April 2022