Quakers Meeting Ho. — Corgarve (athlone North By.)

On a level landscape on the W side of the Athlone to Roscommon town road (N 61). The Ballymurry community of the Society of Friends (Quakers) was founded in 1719 by a group from Sligo, and a meeting house and burial ground had been established by 1721. It was strengthened by further members from Newport, Co. Mayo in 1739. Although in Connaught it was regulated by the Moate, Co. Westmeath, monthly meeting until Ballymurry was abandoned by the community in 1848 (Butler 2004, 16-7). Among the early families that attended were Burnes of Galey and Newtown, and Nevitts, Boates and Sinklars of Ballymurray. Later in the 18th century the Gaw, Peck, Barton, McLean and Alexander names appear in the records. In the 19th century the names Fairbrother of Galey, Lewis and Pellet of Ballymurray, and Beale of Churchpark near Athleague become associated with the Ballymurray meeting house. (Goodbody 2013) The meetng house is a rectangular structure (ext. dims 8.7m N-S; 6.2m E-W) defined by clay-bonded stone walls (H 3m; T 0.5-0.6m). There are two round-headed windows and a round-headed doorway (Wth 1m; H 2.2m) in the E wall and a single destroyed window in the W wall. There is a fireplace in the S wall, and there is a small drystone-walled yard (int. dims 8.2m E-W; 6.95m N-S) on the E side which has a blocked entrance (Wth 1.3m) on its E side to the road. The burial ground (RO042-172002-) to the W is a rectangular enclosure (int. dims 27.5m E-W; 20.2m N-S) defined by drystone-built walls (Wth 0.8m; H 0.8m) which are largely collapsed. An entrance cannot be identified, and there are only two graves visible, which post-date the abandonment of the meeting-house. See the attached view from the E Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revised upload: 30 July 2013