Grave Yard — Kildarra

Located on a ridge, at the break of slope on the S side. The location provides extensive views. On the 1838 OS 6-inch map the graveyard is shown in the NW corner of a large subrectangular space named ‘Glebe’, which shares its E and S boundaries with the townland boundary. The graveyard comprises a rectangular area (c. 44m NNW–SSE; C. 66m ENE–WSW) enclosed on the W, N and E by a stone wall. The S wall was removed in the 20th-century when an extension of the graveyard was opened, covering the ridge slope immediately to S. An E–W concrete path, apparently on the line of the original S wall, marks the division between the older graveyard and the modern extension. The N two thirds of the graveyard encompass a raised, relatively level area, and the enclosing walls barely rise above interior ground level, consisting for the most part of a stone-faced scarps (ext. H 1.2m). In the S third of the graveyard, however, the ground slopes markedly to the S with some evidence of rough scarping or terracing. The interior ground surface is undulating and uneven, and covered with moss and grass which obscures the outline of many graves. Recumbent graveslabs and ‘Celtic’ headstones inscribed with dates of the 19th- and early 20th-centuries predominate, but low, uninscribed stone gravemarkers are also evident throughout. A low, sod-covered linear bank (L 17m; Wth 1.3m; H 0.4-0.5m) on a roughly E-W axis in the NW quadrant is of uncertain significance; one possibility is that it is a remnant of a church (MA0102-042001-) that the 1838 OS letters recorded in this graveyard. According to local tradition, a mass rock (MA102-042003-) was located adjacent to the graveyard. A holy well (MA102-041----) dedicated to St. Bridget is 100m to SW. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 27 September 2022