Tullaherin Graveyard (old), Parish of Tullaherin, county Kilkenny

In Irish Tullaherin means the dry green land.  It is perfectly named as the townland is slightly elevated containing rich pasture land and surrounded by low lying bog and moor.  This graveyard sits in a very old monastic site and Tullaherin was at one time an Episcopal See;  that position was terminated in 1118 by the Synod of Rath -breasail.   Carrigan dates the ruined church to about two centuries prior to the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. This gives an approximate date for the ruin as the 10th century.  As usual Bernie and I have worked on surveying this graveyard together.




View of the memorials inside the ruined church at Tullaherin

The Round Tower at Tullaherin stands within a few yards of the ruined church, is 73 feet high; according to Carrigan this tower is much older than the oldest part of the church.  The lower windows of the tower appear to be at least 7 centuries earlier than those at the top.

Placed just near the Round Tower is a damaged pillar stone with a portion of an Ogham inscription which has been read as FIR.......

It is obvious that the graveyard has been in use for centuries.  There are many stones bearing dates for the 18th century; the earliest dates on stones are 1737, 1744, 1745, 1750, 1752, 1756, 1759, 1762, 1763, 1764, 1765, 1766, 1767, 1768, 1771, 1772, 1773, 1774 1776, 1777 onwards up to to 6 stones bearing the date 1799.  Those stones bearing dates from 1800 to 1850 are numerous.  This makes the genealogy and family history on these memorials invaluable as several people listed have been born in the 17th century.


Many Kilkenny city merchant families appear to have their burial places here at Tullaherin.  There are six Deloughry/DeLoughry memorials here, the earliest from 1776.  One of these memorials is to David Richard Deloughry, Freeman of London who died in 1839 and Thomas James Deloughry, also a Freeman of London who died in 1827; on this stone are other children of David and Susanna Deloughry.  Her surname is  Winchester and they are recorded as marrying in St Giles, Cripplegate, City of London on 16th February 1802.  There may have been an earlier marriage for David as a child Mary Deloughry was born 20th Dec 1795.    Also mentioned are the grandparents of the children Thomas and Ellen Deloughry of Tullaherin parish.  This is a really interesting family as Peter De Loughry, born in 1882, was responsible for making the key that was used to get DeValera out of Lincoln gaol.  The Deloughry family had moved from Tullaherin into Kilkenny city in 1816 and had established an iron and brass foundry business in Parliament Street.
Headstones and memorials numbers 81 and 82 are to the O'Donnell family of Curraghlain; stones number 83,84, and 85 are to the same family but then spelt Dannell (and in one case Donnelly) of Courahlan (various spellings) date from 1756.  There are three other O'Donnell stones, in this case dating from 1796 but these people are of Danesrath and Danesforth


Stone 44 Erected by Thomas Cullen of Enisnag in memory of his father Michael Cullen and mother Margaret Cullen alias Hughes; they both died in the 1860s. Also recorded on are other members of the family including Thomas Cullen of Woollengrange who died in 1918. For more details of the Cullen family of Wollengrange see the article "A 1937 picnic and house dance in Wollengrange" by Patricia Cullen (In the Shadow of the Steeple. Number 11. 2012).

In 2010 Duchas Tullaherin Heritage Society erected a useful map of the memorials in the old graveyard and inside the ruined church.   This map stands inside the new graveyard just at the entrance to the older section; it is indexed by name and identifies the location of each grave but does not give you the full inscriptions of each memorial. 

List of names inscribed on the memorials
Birmingham, Bolger, Brophy, Bryan, Byrne, Butler, Cahill, Carroll, Cashin, Cody, Comerford, Comford, Connell, Cooley, Cormack, Corr, Cowley, Cullen, Cummins, Dalton, Dannell, Davis, Deady, Delaney, Deloughry, DeLoughry, Denefe, Donnelly, Dooley, Dooly, Doran, Dowling, Dowran, Drennan, Dunn/Dunne, Evens, Fallon, Fannon, Fitzgerald, Fleming, Forrestal, Fowler, Freney, Galavan, Gardner, Goolay, Gowlay, Grace, Grady, Growley, Hanlon, Harahan, Hayden, Headen, Healy, Holohan, Hughes, Karney, Kavanagh, Kearney, Kelly, Kennedy, Kenny, Lannon, Lawlor, Long, Lyons, Magner, Magrath, Mahony, Malone, March(?), McNamara, Mulroney, Mulrony, Morris, Murphy, Mylan,  Neill, Nowlan, O'Donnell, O'Farrell, Peart, Pembroke, Perth, Phelan, Power, Purcell, Quigley, Quirk, Rafter, Read, Reed, Renehan, Roth/Rothe, Ryan, Shortal/Shortall, Spruhan, Teahan, Tobin, Wall, Walsh/Walshe.

List of places inscribed on the memorials
America, Ballanabooley, Ballyhohan/Ballykohan, Ballynabola, Ballyreddan, Barrowsland, Bishop's Lough, Bishopslough, Bramblestown, Castlecreen, Clashwilliam,  Cloohs......., Couraghlan, Cuiralahan, Curraghlain, Danesforth, Danesrath, Dublin, Dunbell, Dungarvan, England, Enisnag, Furhouse, Graigue, Highrath, Hudson City, Inisnag, Jerpoint,  Kilbline, Kilfane, Kilkenny, Kilkenny city of, Kilkenny county of, Kilkenny Liberties of the city, Killarney, Kilmacahill, Kilminok,  London, Maddoxtown, Neigham, New York, Newhouse, Newtown, Outrath, Powerstown, Raheenroach, Rathduff, Scart, Schorth, St Philip's Church Bristol, Stroan, Sugarstown, Thomastown, Tinecarna, Tullaherin, Tullow, USA, Warrington, Woollengrange.
Occupations listed on the memorials
Alderman, Doctor,  Freeman of the city of London, Priest.
Masons
The memorials are unsigned. No 75(Shortal) however is of outstanding quality of carving.  In design and presentation it is unlike anything else we have found, as yet, in county Kilkenny. The style is similar to those carved by Denis Cullen of Monaseed, with Roman soldiers on either side of the central cross, but not entirely the same as this stone at Tullaherin seems to have two carved archangels wielding large crucifixes, but wearing what seems to be Roman clothing.

It is possible that whoever carved this stone had seen Cullen's headstones at Kilnahue Churchyard, Gorey, Wexford, and had been inspired by them.  This is a very high class memorial stone, beautifully crafted and must have been very expensive in its day; it is now subject to erosion.  See: Gerry Mullins, Kilnahue Churchyard, Gorey; a survey of the iconography and inscriptions. Gorey Churchyard Heritage Group. 2001. 

Stone No 75 reads " Here Lieth Interred the Body of Thomas Shortal, He died May the 2nd 1780 Aged 70 Years Also the Body of Michael Shortal His Unkle. May They Rest in Peace Amen,