Rossaneny (Roscon) Graveyard, Parish of Windgap, county Kilkenny

Blink and it is easy to miss Rossaneny (also spelt Rossoneany) graveyard; the area is known locally as Roscon.   It is not easy to find even when you know what you are looking for.  This is a remote and very abandoned graveyard about a mile and a half outside Windgap on the Cotterstown Road.  There is no sign post, no gate and no obvious entrance as the way in is only guarded by a bit of string tied between two bushes and a bit of wood.   The intrepid Bernie took all the photos.

It is all very unkempt, overgrown and uneven underfoot.  There is a small ruined church on the site with a doorway in the middle of the south wall.  There is also a small primitive altar within the church ruins.  

The ruin can not be seen from the road; indeed the whole graveyard can not be seen from the road although in fact it is very close to the roadside.
Carrigan (History and Antiquities of the Diocese of Ossory, 1905) says there are only one or two inscribed stones in the graveyard which date from the beginning of the 19th century. We only found one inscribed stone and it dates from the last years of the 18th century.

This handsome headstone still stands erect.  It has a decorative IHS with a cross at the top of the stone, with a sunburst design and two ciboria or chalices on each side of the design; you can not see this fine carving work from the photo above as the weather is doing its worst.    The incised carving below the decorative top reads " God be merciful to the soul of Richard Murphy who depd (departed) this life the 19th June 1792.  Erected by his wife Margaret Murphy alias Kelly".
This headstone would have been expensive in its day.  It is carved from local limestone and is now covered with beautiful lichens.  We have used very finely ground cat litter to highlight the letters on the inscription to enable us to read them and a very soft brush to gently brush and blow away all the cat litter to restore the stone to its original state, leaving it as we found it.  The wording on the headstone is typical for a Catholic family at the time.
Apart from this one inscribed slab there are many uninscribed grave markers which record burials and mark the last resting place of unnamed, but no doubt loved, former residents of the surrounding area.

For those interested in their genealogy the nearby Windgap graveyard has the following two Kelly inscriptions which link to Rossaneny.  All spellings are as recorded on the stones
" Erected by Thomas Kelly of Rossenany in memory of his mother Catherine Kelly alias Quan who died in April 1847 aged 40 yrs.  His uncle Martin Quan died 1852 aged 70 yrs. Also Mary Quan alias Power wife of Martin Quan who died in July 1869 aged 80 yrs".
"Erected by John  Kelly of Rossenena in memory of his father Pierce Kelly who died Feb 21st 1843 aged 71 yrs.  Also his mother Catherine Kelly alias Hawe died April 30th 1847 aged 74 yrs".


Other memorials in Windgap graveyard which mention Rossaneny are for the names of Brophy, Downey, Mackey, Phelan, Prendergast and Ryan.   There is one Murphy headstone which mentions Rossenena but it is late (1960s).   There are two stones in Windgap  graveyard which mention Roscon as a place of residence; these  are for the names of Healy and Quan.