Cullawn Church Graveyard, Kilcullen, parish of Thomastown, county Kilkenny

Cullawn Church graveyard lies in the townland of Kilcullen and on a back road from Inistioge to Thomastown.   The site is not apparent from the road and can be difficult to locate; parking on the road is not easy.  Access is via a gate marked with a cross and through a field where the graveyard is to be found on the left in a walled and gated area. The Kilkenny Graveyard Mapping Project records this graveyard ID as 314 if you need to locate it on their interactive map. There may be cattle in the field. Carrigan in his History and Antiquities of the Diocese of Ossory records the church ruins as very ancient and dating from before the Anglo Norman invasion; most of the church walls are now nearly down to the ground with the exception of the east gable. Stones are scattered all over the site and it is very uneven underfoot; there appear to be many markers but it is impossible to tell which stones might have been specially placed to record a burial.  It may have been used as a Killeen.  All the burials appear to be Catholic and as there are only 5 headstones, 4 with inscriptions, we have transcribed and copied inscriptions here in full.  Carrigan says that Kilcullen belonged to the Dobbyn family until the Cromwellian confiscations.  We accessed and recorded this graveyard in June 2015.




1. Kerbed plot.  In loving memory of the Dobbyn Family Chapel Hill. Richard Dobbyn, Woodstock died 5^th April 1957.  His wife Mary died 12^th June 1988. Their daughter Margaret Kavanagh late of Leicester died 5^th March 1993 aged 63. Rest in Peace Amen. O’Donnell. Waterford.




2. Broken Celtic Cross.  On base: On whose souls Sacred Heart of Jesus Have Mercy.  2 broken parts of the Celtic Cross are leaning again the wall of the church: the long shaft of the cross is finely decorated and marked Thy Kingdom Come; the circular part of the cross has a Sacred Heart with cross insert.  The part of the stone with the names of those buried is missing.




3. Finely carved upright tombstone.  Gloria scroll, sunburst and wreath/garland around top of stone and sunburst, IHS and 2 ciboria in lancet type windows.  Erected by Richd Hearn in memory of his sister in law Mary Heartley who depd this life March 22^nd 1817 aged 30 years. Also her sister Catherine Heartley who depd this life March 23^rd 1819




4. In loving memory of Daniel White, Kilkieran died 11^th March 1976. Erected by Danny McDonald. WHITE.




5.Celtic Cross on pediment base with A, X with a long tailed P through it, O on top of cross, a decorated ribbon down shaft of cross with In Hoc Signo Vinces on ribbon.  On front: a small Maltese cross – Erected by his children to the memory of our dear beloved father Morgan Kavanagh, Rossroe who died June 17^th 1925 aged 78 years. Also his wife Bridget Kavanagh and his son John Kavanagh who died young. And his daughter Mary (Ciss) Kavanagh died August 23^rd 1949. Sacred Heart of Jesus have mercy on their souls. Gargan. Kilkenny.  On left hand side: His son Bryan died June 13^th 1953 aged 74 years. RIP. His wife Mary died Aug 20 1949. Statia White Kilkieran died July 4 1972.   On right side : His son Michael Kavanagh died 7^th Dec 1959.


Index of Names on the stones
Dobbyn 1,
Hearn 3
Heartley 3
Kavanagh 1,5
McDonald 4
White 4,5


Index of Places recorded on the stones
Chapel Hill 1
Kilkieran 4,5
Leicester 1
Rossroe 5
Woodstock 1


Index of Masons who signed the stones they carved
Gargan, Kilkenny 5
O'Donnell, Waterford 1

Kilkenny Board of Health Registers of Internments

Tucked away in the Kilkenny Archives at John Street, Kilkenny city are some very valuable resources for the Kilkenny family historian.  Amongst the most interesting for this blog are a series of civil burial registers which mainly commence in the early 1940s; some end in the 1970s but others go right through to 2005/2006.   These are NOT part of the church records but are civil internment records kept by Kilkenny County Council.  If you are seeking a burial within the relevant dates and in a graveyards which is listed below, it would be advisable to consult these registers, especially if you are not finding the name you seek on a headstone or memorial. We have found that people listed in these Registers of Interment are not always to be found recorded on a headstone in the relevant graveyard, which is why these registers are so important.  These registers are not available anywhere online, probably because much of the information is fairly recent and could be regarded as sensitive.  The information recorded in these registers is as follows:- Christian and surname of the deceased, sex, age, religion, occupation, whether married, single, widow or widower or a child, the last place of residence, date of death, date of interment and signature of the caretaker and registrar.  The information has been entered in ink and by hand on pre-printed register pages. 
The last place of residence is usually the townland of the family home but may include such locations as  Dublin, London, England, or New Jersey USA indicating that whilst people may have died overseas they were often shipped home to Ireland for burial in the family plot.


Accompanying these Registers of Interment is a one page Kilkenny County Council document entitled "Duties of Registrars of Burial Grounds; approved on 6th March 1947".  These duties are based on the Rules and Regulations for the Regulation of Burial Grounds dated 6th July 1888, 23rd December 1919 and 12th March 1929.   Most of these rules and regulations concern being present at burials, ensuring correct procedures are followed and to demand and receive fees where these are chargeable and of course keeping the Register of Interments.   All of that is to be expected but what is very interesting is we learn that the Registrar is also expected "to keep in his custody a map of the burial ground showing the divisions of the burial ground into grave spaces" and "to keep records showing ownership of each grave and available accommodation therein".   Sadly these last records, which would be so very valuable to us all, do not seem to have survived; in any event they are not in the Kilkenny Archives in John Street.  We are still looking for where these maps and ownership lists might be.


 

Kilkenny Board of Health and Public Assistance: List of Registers of Interments:-

1. Aghavillar 1944-2005
2. Ballygurrin 1941-1995
3. Baunfada 1946-1972
4. Brownsbarn 1942-1975
5. Clonamery 1946-1978
6. Clonmatagh Lower 1941-1990
7. Coolagh 1941-1984
8. Danesfort 1942-1961
9. Danganmore 1954-1995
10. Derrynahinch 1941-2006
11. Donoghmore 1941-2002
12. Donoghmore Upper 1942-1979
13. Dungarvan 1954-1977
14. Grange 1944-2005
15. Grange Upper  1948-1961 ( but no burials recorded in register)
16. Kells 1949-1985
17. Kilbeacon 1946-1972
18. Kilkieran 1941-2003
19. Killaloe 1941-2005
20. Kilmocar 194?-2006
21. Kilmakevoge 1945-1981
22. Kilree 1941-1992
23. Kyle 1945-1959
24. Kyleballykeefe 1945-1970
25. Newtown 1941-1972
26. Powerstown 1942-1979
27. Rathcusack or Rathcorrig 1941-1999
28. Rosconnell 1941-1983
29. Shanbogh 1941/2-2002
30. Shraleagh 1942-1958
31. Smithstown 1941-1971
32. Stonecarthy 1948-1975
33. Threecastles 1945?-1963
34. Troyswood 1941-2005
35. Urlingford 1941-1988

A view of Stonecarthy graveyard with one of our helpers

Gowran graveyard, St Mary's Collegiate Church, Co Kilkenny. Part 2.

Amongst the very interesting memorials is an altar tomb dating from 1620 which has on the table top a carving of a skeleton divesting itself of its shroud as it rises from the dead, presumably on the day of resurrection; sadly; although dramatic this does not photograph very well   This is a tomb dedicated to the memory of Jacobus Kealy  and his wife Ellena Naish but her date of death has never been filled in.   One of the supporting stones at the end of the tomb has St Peter holding his key to the Kingdom of Heaven.

But look again: St Peter is smoking a dodeen.....presumably carefully carved sometime after the original carving was completed.....and when tobacco smoking with a dodeen (or pipe) was fashionable.......

Close up of St Peter circa 1620........smoking!

Quite close by is a renaissance monument decorated with two shields, one with two lions rampant supporting a castle for Kealy impaling three doves with olive branches in their beaks for Nash. The other shield has the same arms for Kealy but this time impaling a chevron between three roses for White. This is a highly sophisticated memorial and finely carved but the final dates have never been completed.  This reads " Here Lieth the bodies of Mr James Keally sometime of the town of Gawran gentleman who died ano dni 16(--) and of Mrs Ellen Nashe, his first wife who died the 30 day of the moneth of Jvly ano dni 1640 and Mrs Mary White his second wife who died the (--) day of the moneth of (----_ ano dni 16(--).  He erected this monument for himselfe, his wifves and children in the moneth of December ano dni 1646".  The follows a now almost totally  illegible verse "Both wifves at once alive he could not have. Both to inioy (enjoy) at once he made this grave"




Index of masons

John Bergin 44

Alex Ballantine, Dublin 222

Aileen Anne Brannigan 194

Brennan, Royal Oak 125,150

Coates, Dublin 226

Colles, Kilkenny 192

R.Colles 170

John Cullen, Royal Oak 129

Keeffe, Kilkenny 14346.

McDonald, Maddoxtown 76

Mullen, Kilkenny 199
Murphy, Wells 85

Nolan, Ballon 197

O'Shea, Callan 195

O'Shea, Kilkenny 47,65,80

O'Tunney (attributed to) 238

Smyth, Edward (attributed to) 225

Very elaborate memorial to James Agar who died in 1733 aged 63 erected by his second wife Mary Wemyss of Danesfort. Compare this to the memorial slab below which commemorates his first wife Susannah Alexander.



There is quite a lot to say about this memorial slab.  It is very plain indeed and note the spelling of here as heare.   The mason has cut fine deep lettering but some letters are the wrong way around such as the S in ESQr and the N in AND, although he does get the N correct in GENT; the two Ns in Susanna's name have been joined together,  The third line from the bottom DECEASED has been abbreviated as DED and the mason has then run out of space as the word THE has been carved with the T and the E carved as part of the initial H.  In all this seems a very inexperienced hand that has carved this memorial.  Also Susanna is memorialised, not in her own right but as the wife of one man and the daughter of another.  Susanna's memorial may be very plain as she produced no living children which would have been her main role in life.    The wording on the elaborate memorial to her husband is perfectly carved and reads:-

James Agar Esqr, son to Charles Agar of the City of York by Ellis his wife of the Ancient Family of Blanchville died the XXXth day of December MDCCXXXIII in the LXIIId year of his age.  By his first wife Susanna, daughter to James Alexander Esqr, he had three sons who died young.  He afterwards married Mary, daughter to Sir James Wemyss of Danesfort by who he had 7 children, 3 of which are here interred.  He acquired a plentiful fortune with a fair reputation. His disposition beneficient and humane gained him the desirable character of a tender husband, an indulgent parent, an affectionate relation, a kind master and a good neighbour.  His private charities were not few and the new building for the seat of his family together with the poor house of Gowran are instances of his public liberality, the former he began and completed, the later by him founded and endowed is since finished by the MOURNFUL RELICT who out of sincere respect to the WORTHY DECEASED has caused THIS to be ERECTED AS A MONUMENT TO HIS MERIT AND HER AFFECTION.



 

Index of stained glass window artists
Healey, Michael (of An Tur Gloine) 212
McGoldrick, Hubert V, (of An Tur Gloine) 223

Lieut Aubrey Cecil White died 1916.

An Tur Gloine, meaning The Glass Tower, was established in Dublin in 1903.  It was an important part of the Irish Arts and Crafts movement in the first half of the 20th century involved as it was with the concept of Celtic revival and the cultural search for a specific Irish identity. Michael Healy  was one of the first recruits; Hubert McGoldrick joined in 1920.  These are high class stained glass windows.  The above window is by Michael Healy and the inscription reads "York and Lancaster Regt. Be thou faithful unto death and I will give a crown of life. To the glory of God and in memory of Aubrey Cecil White, Lieut. York and Lancaster Regt who fell in action July 1st 1916 aged 20 while leading his men in the Battle of the Somme". 

Index of Occupations recorded on the stones

Attorney/Attorney at law 135,170

Constable 208
Forester 185
High Sheriff 226
Land Steward 179
Medical Attendant 222
Member of Parliament 203
Merchant 138
Military 166,167,212,215,216,221,226,227
National Teacher 199
Post Office Officer 162,167
Prebendary 214
Priest 26,35,38,39,40 71
Recorder 202
Rector/vicar 20,141,172,195,196,214,215,221
Revenue Officer 135,170
Sergeant 128,173,192
Treasurer 214


Recording the attainments and achievements of the deceased upon the headstone became important, particularly to the settler families, seeking to reinforce their position in society.  One such example is the family of Cuthbert who have a group of 6 headstones in this graveyard (Nos 166-171 inclusive) and from which it is possible to draw out quite an detailed family tree. Patrick Cuthbert is memorialised on his headstone "Sacred to the memory of Mr Patrick Cuthbert for many years Post Master of Gowran, he fulfilled the duty of his profession and employment during a lifetime of Honour, Honesty and Integrity. He died in the Honourable cause of  his King and Constitution in the 48th year of his age June 25th 1798. Reader Remark a Fond Father, a sincere friend possessed of a benevolent Heart to the distressed".   There are masonic symbols on the headstone.   This stone tells us quite a lot about Patrick;  his occupation, his allegiances, his character (or at least how the grieving widow wished it to be commemorated).   The date 1798 is absolutely critical and gives a clue as to why he died - Gowran is right on the border with Carlow, the place of terrible brutal fighting during the 1798 rebellion  There is a Kilkenny Marriage Licence dated 13th May 1780 for Patrick and a Margaret Agar.  According to these headstones there were three children of this marriage. A son Lieutenant Kingston Cuthbert (1787-1842), Emily who died aged 14 years in 1812, and James Cuthbert, recorded as an Inland Revenue Officer. James was married to Mary, daughter of Maurice Moran, Attorney of Castleville, Gowran.  Mary was born in 1800 and died 7th December 1883. Most of these Cuthbert stones have biblical quotations which would indicate this family belonged to the Protestant persuasion.  One of these headstones is signed by the mason Colles of Kilkenny.  In all a tremendous amount of useful genealogical information about the Cuthbert family.
A broken stone, now lying flat, within the unroofed section of the ruin commemorates a young man with a very strange sounding name. "Here lies the body of Mr Robert Bijar who departed this life ye 5th June 1756 aged 25".   This seems such an unusual name in Ireland but may be found in Dublin.  A Robert Bijar (obviously not our man here buried but possibly his father) subscribed to the book, The Natural History of Carolina by John Bricknell MD, published in 1737 in Dublin.  In fact Robert and Mary Bijar ran an East India Goods Warehouse in Abbey Street, Dublin.  In 1747 Mary Bijar advertised Chinese wallpapers as well as Indian silks, painted Indian calicoes, Indian dressing boxes, tea chests, Indian fans and Turkish coffees (Wallpaper in Ireland 1700-1900 by David Skinner. 2014 ).   All this seems very exotic indeed but portrays a very different side of Ireland in the 18th century.  According to Deeds found in The Registry of Deeds in Dublin, this Bijar family was in Dublin as early as 1712.
There is much early Catholic family history to be gleaned from the headstones in the exterior graveyard.   The family of Brenan/Brennan from Clara can be traced from several stones starting with a David Brennan who died in 1751 aged 72 years (born 1679) who married Mary Doran born in 1691 and who died 1755.   The father and mother  of Mary Doran who married David Brennan can be found on an adjacent stone - Mathew Doran ( born1657) who died 1745 aged 88 years and his wife Mary Comerford (born 1667) who died in 1729 aged 62 years. 
There are many Holohan stones here.  No 57 has a charming and unusual poem; the stone reads "Erected by Ann Holohan in memory of her nees (sic) alias Mary Griffin who departed this life April 20th 1811 aged 26 yrs. Dear Angles which (watch?) this sleeping dust, until Christ do come to rise the just, then may she awake in sweet surprize and in our Saviour's image rise".
Stone No 36 gives us a great deal of genealogical information "Here lieth ye body of ye R.F (Reverend Father?) Edmond Crow who having passed 36 years in a foreign country came to his native soil to join his remains with those of his grand-father and grand-mother Edmond Crow and Catherine Kavenagh, his father and mother Daniel Crow and Catherine Norris, his brothers Mich., and Pat Crow. He deceased Xber ye 28 1757 aged 68 yrs. Requiescat in Pace Amen. Think oft of death, love God. observe his law, conserve your soul and shun the serpent's claw. Pater + Ave."  The Edmond Crow commemorated on this stone was born in 1689 and presumably had gone abroad to study for the priesthood..  Both his parents and grandparents are mentioned taking the family back to about the 1630s.  This is very early information to have and this is the first time we have found the unusual verse here in Kilkenny.  There is a stylised serpent that runs around the interior of the exterior ruin........

Headstone No 138 is a damaged stone and  like many of the other stones very hard to read but the inscription is as follows:- "God be merciful to ye soul of Mr John Kinchela of the city of Kilkenny, Mercht decsd Novrb ye 5th 1761 aged 45 yrs.  Erected by Mr John Kinchela his son".   There follows a short verse "Remember man I am what thou shall be and as you are so .... I once like thee".  What makes this stone distinctive is a carved skeleton, in a coffin,  with very well defined details such as hip bones and rib cage, lying length ways along the bottom of the stone almost now hidden from view.  Momento is carved on the right of the coffin and Mori carved on the left (meaning remember death).

The blade of grass is just below his rib cage, his skull is clearly visible on the lower right side of the photo and his hips and legs extend out to the left side of the photo at the bottom; the skeleton is encased in a coffin but the mason had not signed his work.

Finally a reused and broken stone carved with loving care. Stone No 186 to the Whelan family "Sacred to the memor(y) of ....Elen Whelan of (Gowran?) who died Jan (...) the 5 1889 aged (...) Brid, Tom and Dan who died (.....)ry 1889, also their moth(er) Margaret Whelan died 1915 aged 47 yrs. RIP"

ADIEU

Gowran graveyard,St Mary's Collegiate Church, Co Kilkenny. Part 1.

We first visited this site in 2012 to confirm our commitment to record all the headstones and memorials at this outstanding historical site.  In all there are 246 memorials and it was a mammoth task in recording them all. Some memorials are inside a roofed area of the church, some in the ruins outside and others in the open graveyard.  In all we produced 8 maps to ensure that future researchers would be able to find and identify a particular grave or memorial.   We also produced complete indexes to family names, to locations, to occupations marked on the stones and to the masons where the mason has signed a stone.   We transcribed exactly what was written on each memorial, including any abbreviations used by the masons, and some very strange spellings; this may say something about the literacy of the masons, or indeed about the literacy of his clients but we felt it important to be precise about the wording on each memorial.   Given the chequered history of this area both Catholics and Protestants are buried here.  Some memorials hide fantastic stories such as No 12 to Thomas O'Flaherty who was murdered by arsenic poisoning in 1788 although this is not evident from the inscription on the stone; for more information about Thomas O'Flaherty see our blog entry dated 8/2/2016 entitled The Kilkenny Graveyard Blog.   Stone No 167 commemorates Patrick Cuthbert who was Post Master at Gowran and who died in the 1798 Rebellion; his end was particularly gruesome although again this is not immediately evident from the inscription on his stone.   Without any doubt there are most probably very interesting stories behind every memorial if we could only find the time to do more research!   This is a site managed by the Office of Public Works and we are grateful to them and the staff who work on the site for all their positive assistance and enthusiasm for this project.  The exterior graveyard is beautifully maintained; the roofed area of the church, which contains 42 memorials is open to the public during the summer months.   Our complete work, including details and full transcriptions of every memorial was published in "In the Shadow of the Steeple, No 12" by The Tullaherin Heritage Society 2015.   Copies of this particular journal may be available on sale from St Mary's at Gowran when the church is open to the public during the summer.  We do not have copies to sell ourselves.   This was such a large project that we have decided to present it here in several sections, Parts 1 and 2.  Part 3 will touch on the Gowran master, an early stonemason of undoubted skill.

This is an elaborate ruin and known as the Collegiate Church of St Mary or the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin.  The ruin and surviving roofed area dominate the small town of Gowran; it is one of the finest 13th century parish churches in Ireland.  Thomas Walter Butler, one of the ancestors of the Butlers of Ormond, who came to Ireland with Prince John in 1185, founded Gowran.  Gowran remained a Butler stronghold until the Butlers acquired Kilkenny castle in 1391; the Butlers remained the owners of the manor  and the castle of Gowran until the time of the Cromwellian confiscations.   These were ultimately purchased by the Agar family, a settler family from Yorkshire in England, who held them until the 20th century. 

This is the ledger slab with floriated cross dedicated to Maurice Cass. Bernie did the excellent rubbing.

The site holds, within the roofed church, many medieval ledger or grave slabs from the time of the 13th and 14th centuries; most of these are decorated with floriated crosses but one records in Lombardic script "Hic Jacit Maurici Cas (Here lies Maurice Cas).   Another early slab has an 8 pointed cross and states in Latin  "Here lie Edmund Brenagh and Isabella Wale, his wife who died in 1515.   Another stone apparently dating from about 1600 records in Latin " Here lie Richard Nase and Ellen Shortall, his wife, who died.....(incomplete).    The earliest stone is an ogham from the 5th or 6th century and reads "Maqi eracias maqi...dimaqa muco" which has been translated as "son of Erecias son of Dimaqa descendant of.......).. Yet another early stone records Ralph Julianus, or Ralph of Baligavern who was parson of Gowran; the date, presumably of his death is March 19th 1253-4.

Outline map of graveyard at St Mary's Gowran showing position of all memorials

Index to names  


Agar 204,206,209,210,225                                             

Alexander 209, 210

Alley 20

Athenry, Lord 225

Atkinson 221

Aylward see Toler-Aylward

Bealy119

Bijar 8

Blanchville 204, 209

Blunt 27

Bolger 124

Borroughs 131

Bradstreet 22
Bradley 199
Brandon, Countess of,  225
Breannan 1
Brenagh 229
Brenan 6,24,27,83,115,159
Brophy 136,137
Burke 19,225
Burne 124
Burrowes, 162
Butler 2,22,101.213, 218,220 238,239
Byrne 24, 50
Cahill 45, 92
Cain 62,
Call(--) 36
Callan, Lord Baron 225
Cantwell 92
Cas 241
Clifford 16
Coady164
Coburn 192
Comerford 32, 37
Conely 111
Connolly 100, 101
Connor 158
Crerar 197
Croak 94
Croke 93
Crow 36
Cuff 202
Cuthbert 107,166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171
Darby 214
De Bohun 218
Dempsey 86
Denroch 33
Dimaqa 246
Donally 60
Doran 24,32,33
Dowley 102
Dowling 50
Doyle 53,75,111
Dunn 64
Dunphy 67
Dweyr 77
Dwyer 55,56
Egan 50
English 200
Ellis 184
Erecias 246
Farrell 7, 16,72
Fanning 85
Fenton 173
Feris 127, 160
Fleming 133
Fowler 123
Frane 60
Gantley 191
Golding 145
Gorman 39, 51
Graham 198
Griffin 57
Griffith 160, 161
Hackett 14
Harper 4, 20
Harris 139
Harrison 42
Healy 44, 128
Henesy 58
Hewson 195,214
Hoban 87
Hobley 147
Holahan 58,59
Holiday 135
Holohan 49, 57
Hooy 205
Houlihan 105
Howard 109
Hudson 27
Hues 82
Kavanagh 38
Kavangh Sadhbh MacMurrough 213
Kavenagh 36
Keally 13,14
Kealy 11,13,14,35
Kearney 211,221,226
Keefe 62,63,118,123
Keeffe 61, 73
Kehoe 6
Keife 71
Kelly 17,18,26,66,75,202
Kelsey 80
Kennedy 52
Keys 85
Kinchella 138
Lawless 108
Leech 40
Lewis 152
Liston 152
Loughnan 2
Lyons 51
Maher 59, 178
Mandeville 128
Manson 185
Marshall 134
Martin 175
Matthews 194
Max 165
Mayo, Lord Viscount 225
Meany 54
Melea 104
Millea 105,106
Moore 78
Moran 121,133,134,135,151,170
Morissy 121
Mulroney 85
Murphy 60,66,71,80,81,87,91,125,129
Murray 15
McDaniel 187
McDonagh 181
McDonogh 181
McEvett 177
McLoughlin 37
Naish 11
Nase 231
Nash 11, 123
Nashe 13
Newell 222
Nolan 49
Norris 36
Nowlan 26
O'Connor 47
O'Donnell 128
O'Flaherty 12,19
O'Hara 21
O'Kearney 226
O'Keeffe 65
O'Meagher 56
O'Neil 69
O'Neill 68
Oldfield 111
Ormond 208,218,220
Owen 165
Payne 179
Phelan 43, 119,120
Purcell 5, 208
Quirk 86
Radoulfus 219
Ralph Julianus or Ralph de Baligaveren 219
Rice 159
Roche 101
Roth/Rothe 203,205,208,227
Ryan 18,103,158
Saunderson 172
Shirley 175
Shortall 142,143,231
Stanton 10

Staples 215,216

Stapleton 40,176

Taylor 146

Tobin 52, 158

Toler-Aylward 150, 223

Travers 76

Treacy 45, 142

Vaughan 205

Wale 229

Walsh 79

Walshe 129

Walton 58

Ward 197

Wemyss 209

Whelan 186

White 13, 120,212,227

Whitelaw 182
Whitefield 141
Whyte 68, 97

Willett 19

Williams 201
Willis 196

Wynne 201

Index to Places recorded on the stones.
As usual in most Irish graveyards Gowran has a good smattering of very exotic place names recorded on headstones and memorials indicating, that many Irish people travelled the world.  Here can be found a memorial to George Walter Rothe, 13th Light Infantry who died 17th November 1823 at Canton of the coast  of China, aged 19 years.    And the memorials to the Staples brother;  Lieut Thomas Staples, 1st  Bengal Fusiliers who having served in the battles of Aliwall, Moodkee and Sobraon died in September 1831 of the effects of a wound received at Sobraon aged 28 years.  His brother Monsey Staples of the 68th Regiment of the Bengal Native Infantry died at Akyab in Arracan 3rd December 1843 aged 25 years.  
Akyab 216
Aliwall 215
Arracan 216
Ballyquirke 44, 62
Barrack Street 128
Barrowmount 10,75
Bengal 215,216
Bishopslough 66
Black Quarry 136
Blanchville 191,211,226
Bohergaddy 87
Borris 123
Bramblestown 65,73

Bricana 63

Bricanna 125

Bricken Clara 6
Bridgeroad 85
Butler's Grove 2203,205
Caen 227
Canton 227
Carberllan/Caerberllan, Merionethshire 165
Carlow 59
Castle Ellis 52, 76
Castlefield 19
Castleinch 202
Castleroe 6
Castleville 170
Castleyard 197
China 227
Clara 1
Cloydah 221

Conicare 61

Crowhill Lodge 2
Crumlin, county Antrim 173
Danesfort 209
Dublin 162,211,222
Dunbell 19, 191
Edenvue house 56
Enniscorthy 56
Flagmount 55,56,77
Garryduff 43
Goresbridge 86

Gowran 11,13,14,20,21,35,38,39,40,45,49,50,51,53,54,76,81,93,97,104,108, 129,131

135,143,158,159,164,166,167,170,176,177,179,186,194,195,196,199,208,209,214,215,219

Gowran Castle 179, 185

GPO Dublin 162
Graigue 15
Holdenstown 198
Kellymount 202
Kildare 6
Kilfane 60
Kilkenny city 16,26,37,40,101,120,128,138, 202
Kilkenny county 10,12,19,152,173,198,221,226,227
Kilkenny Road, Gowran 164
Kilmocahill 141
Kilmagar 2
Larne 159
Lavally, Queens's county 159
Liverpool 47
LowGrange 103
Mayo county 205
Meerot 215
Moodkee 215
Mount Rothe 227

Newtown 66

Nore View 19
Normandy 227
Osiry 38
Ossory 40
Rathboran 78
Rathvane 175
Red Bog 47
Royal Oak 59
Shankill Castle 150,223
Sobraon 215
Somme, battle of, 212
St Canice's Cathedral 214
Tascoffin 172
The Demense 199
Thomastown 133,203
Tinahely, county Wicklow 192
Tramore 27

Warrington 105,106

Waterford 26
York and Lancaster Regiment 212
York, city of, 135, 209



One of the many faces found on the stones at Gowran; look at his lovely fringed hair.

Memorial to John Ireland of Burnchurch, 1st Archbishop of St.Paul, Minnesota.

There is a distinctive roadside memorial at the farm opposite Burnchurch Tower.   It is a large 10 foot Celtic Cross, set back a bit from the road but enclosed within a railed area and encircled by a cut stone wall.  It reads "Sacred to the memory of John Ireland, First Archbishop of St Paul, Minnesota, USA,  Suaimhneas soirai da anam".  This Celtic Cross is a replica of the memorial placed over the Archbishop's grave in St Paul and was made by a monumental sculptor in St Paul and shipped to Ireland early in 1966.  This memorial was formerly unveiled at Burnchurch on 18th September 1966.
On a separate placque up on the wall surrounding the Celtic Cross is the following inscription " John Ireland 1838-1918, Patriot, Statesman, Priest of Christ.  His soul has gone out into all lands and his fame until the ends of the earth.   Suaimhneas siorai da anam" (Eternal Peace to his Soul).


John Ireland was born at Burnchurch, Parish of Danesfort,  county Kilkenny on 11th September 1838.

His parents were Richard Ireland, a carpenter by trade and Judith Naughton, Richard's second wife  Richard Ireland worked as a carpenter for the Flood family.  In the 1960s workmen carrying out repairs to Farmley House, the Flood home, discovered amongst other names, the name of Richard Ireland inscribed in the lead roof lap.
The children of this marriage, all in the Danesfort Register as being from Burnchurch are:-
1. Ellen baptised 30 November 1836. Sponsors: Garret Fleming and Atty Naughton (died young)
2. John baptised 11 September 1838. Sponsors: John Nougthon and Mary Marnell.
3. Richard baptised 29 Nov 1840, Sponsors: Richard Shirly and Catherine Kenehan (died young).
4. Ellen baptised 1 July 1842. Sponsors: Thomas McCabe and Mary Northon (Naughton).
5. Bess(Eliza) baptised 7th August 1844. Sponsors: Edmond Carty and Cath Marnell.
6. Richard baptised 23 Nov 1847. Sponsors: David Carty and Margaret Ryan.
7. Johanna baptised 7 August 1849. Sponsors: Thomas Rice and Honora Naughton.
Both Ellen (Mother Seraphine) and Eliza (Mother St John) entered the Community of the Sisters of St. Joseph of  Carondelet and were still alive in 1918.   In addition Richard Ireland had a daughter Mary Anne by his first wife whose name is unknown.
Richard Ireland left Kilkenny in 1849 to seek a better life in America; he was accompanied by his sister Nancy.   He initially settled in Burlington, Vermont before sending for his wife and children to join him in 1850.  In 1852 Richard decided to move the whole family to Minnesota and they arrived in St Paul in May of that year.
By this time the young John Ireland, highly intelligent and extremely pious, was showing signs of a religious vocation.  He was selected as a suitable candidate to be educated, free of charge, for the priesthood and he was sent to a seminary in Meximieux in France.  When John Ireland returned to St Paul in 1861 he was ordained as a priest at the early age of only 23 yr.  His rise within the Church was rapid.  In 1875 at only 37 he was ordained as a Bishop and in 1888, aged 49 yrs, he was appointed first Roman Catholic Archbishop of St Paul, Minnesota.    He was a priest for approximately 56 years and a Bishop for 44 years.
As a young priest he volunteered and served as Chaplain in the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War.  He proved popular with the men but exhausted his health with his pastoral duties, some on the battlefield.  A keen chess player, as Chaplain, he always carried with him a set of miniature chess men and a rubber blanket chess board and made a point of playing chess with the soldiers.
Archbishop Ireland had a strong and charismatic personality. He rose to be a leading civil and religious leader; his liberal views gave him a wide reputation and influence outside the Church and he worked closely with non-Catholics.  He was employed on diplomatic missions by both the Pope and the President of the United States and was on intimate terns with Presidents William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and William H. Taft.  In 1902 he represented President McKinley and the American people at the unveiling of a memorial in Paris, France, to the French revolutionary soldier and politician Layfayette.
Disturbed by reports of the poor social and economic conditions of the Irish immigrants crowding into the urban slums along the eastern seaboard, he was instrumental in founding the Catholic Colonisation Bureau of Minnesota.  This organisation bought good farm land, more than 400,000 acres, in rural areas only recently cleared of its native Sioux in the Dakota War of 1862.   Between 1876 and 1881, working with the railroads and the Minnesota State Government, he organised and directed the most successful rural colonisation programme bringing out more than 4000 Irish Catholic families from the slums in the east and settling them on farm land in Minnesota.  The scheme whilst highly successful did have one failure.  He organised for over 300 Gaelic speaking immigrants to be brought direct from Connemara to Minnesota.  These immigrants unfortunately knew nothing about farming, had no English and were ill prepared for life on the American prairie, especially during the severe winter of 1880 and this particular venture was not successful but otherwise this was a highly successful scheme for the betterment of poor immigrants.
Archbishop Ireland was especially keen to develop education and sought to harmonise Catholicism with American institutions. He founded the College (now University) of St Thomas in 1885, the Saint Thomas Academy and the St Paul Seminary.  In 1889 he also helped establish the Catholic University of America.

He died in St Paul on 25th September 1918 and was buried in the Calvary cemetery, St Paul, Minnesota.    Before he died he burnt all his personal papers.
His was a life of outstanding achievement and industry.   One of the Archbishop's sayings was "Pessimism is the devil's art".   Obviously he himself was an optimist and a proud son of county Kilkenny.   There is a well written and researched book  "The Life and Times of Archbishop John Ireland" written by Monsignor James H Moynihan, published in 1955 by Harper, New York.  
See also The Old Kilkenny Review 1967  Archbishop John Ireland.  (Pages 64-68).

Burnchurch Graveyard, Parish of Danesfort, co Kilkenny

Burnchurch graveyard, and nearby ruined tower house, is one of the unsung glories of rural county Kilkenny.  This beautiful walled graveyard contains both Church of Ireland and Catholic burials and is of historical interest.   It is a very ancient burial place with memorials dating from the 15th century. Apart from these very early memorials of obvious historical interest there are 21 stones dating from the 18th century (1751, 1760, 1761, 1763(2), 1770, 1771, 1775(2), 1776, 1784, 1788, 1789, 1791, 1792, 1794(4), 1796 and 1797.  Most of these early 18th century stones are Catholic.   Additionally there are another 25 memorials bearing dates of erection for the first half of the 19th century (1806, 1808, 1810, 1812(2), 1813, 1815, 1816, 1818, 1824, 1825, 1826(3), 1829, 1834, 1835, 1836, 1838, 1840(2), 1841, 1844, 1845, and 1848). As is usual in these ancient graveyards there is an enormous amount of family history and genealogy to be gleaned from these old stones.  All these photographs have been taken by Bernie.

Burnchurch castle or Tower House was built and owned by the Fitzgeralds, otherwise Barron, of Burnchurch  who descended from Maurice Fitz Maurice whose father was most probably Maurice Fitz Gerald one of the first of the Anglo-Norman invaders into Ireland and ancestor of the different branches of Fitzgeralds in the country.  The Fitzgeralds of Burnchurch, known also by the surname of Barron, account for the wide distribution of the of surname Barron in this part of county Kilkenny.  They lost their lands to Colonel William Warden in the mid 17th century under the Cromwellian settlements.  The property later passed by marriage into the Flood family.  

The Round Tower would have originally formed a corner of the walled bawn or enclosure attached to the Tower House.  

Plan of the interior of the well preserved square Tower House built by the FitzGeralds, Barons of Burnchurch on display outside the ruin,

The photograph used to illustrate this blog's front page is a picture of an end panel of an altar tomb taken in this graveyard, although now the end panel is now safely behind a locked iron gate at what was once the entrance to the ruined early 19th century Protestant church.

Highly decorated end panel probably from a FitzGerald tomb showing he crucifixion of Christ

 As can be seen from the picture the end panel has a carving, in relief, of the crucifixion.   At the right side of the cross are the words "Jesus a(n)i(m)a(bus)" and on the other side are the Roman capitals R.I.F.D which, according to Carrigan would indicate a full Latin inscription of "Jesus animabus requiem indulgeat fidelium defunctorum" or "May Jesus grant rest to the souls of the faithful departed".  Carrigan suggests that this may be part of the damaged tomb erected to Garret Fitzgerald of Burnchurch, gentleman, who was pardoned in February 1561/2 and who was still living in 1569.    In fact there is a damaged covering slab of a large altar tomb which reads "......ome fitzgeralde nuper de Burnchurch generosus, Constabul.....Castelli  kilkenie q obit p die Martis 1586........m quod eris fueramq.......or ora,  Walterus Kerin fabricabit".   This translates as "(Here lies Garret fitz?) Thomas Fitzgeralde, late of Burnchurch, gentleman, Constable of the Castle of Kilkenny, who died March 1st 1586. (Whoe'er thou art that passest by, stand, read, lament).  I am what you will be; I was (what you are) Pray (for me I beseech you).   Walter Kerin made the tomb",    Walter Kerin was one of the family of master stone carvers operating in Kilkenny in the 16th and 17th centuries.  Their concept of the crucifixion, together with all the symbols associated with the crucifixion such as the coat of many colours, the flails or scourges, the hammer and the round faces of the sun and the moon, have been widely copied by later 18th and 19th century Kilkenny stone masons in the surrounding graveyards.   As have the words inscribed on this tomb although undergoing slight alterations from stone to stone and graveyard to graveyard; whilst the wording may sometimes slightly alter the sentiment remains the same. 

A ledger slab with an eight pointed cross in relief and highly ornamental carvings of gothic type windows. This slab has an inscription which reads "Here lies Rich(ard) Fitz Roulard Moryss and Johanna White his wife AD (date worn away but Carrigan says it can be safely assigned to the second half of the 15th century)

Other early but damaged memorials, here translated from the latin read  "Here lie (Rouland Bar)on, Lord of Burnchurch and Anastatia St Leger, his wife, who died Feb 1st 1544-5. (On whose souls may) God have mercy.  Amen.   Be my witness, O Christ, that this stone does not lie here to ornament the body but to have the soul remembered.   Whoe'er thou art that passest by, stand, read, lament. I am what you will be; I was what you are. Pray for me I beseech you.    (Here lies John Baron)  son and heir of Rouland (who died)  AD1552.   On whose soul may God have mercy.




The family of Flood were also prominent here as their estate, Farmley, lies nearby.

Sign on the outside wall of the graveyard near the entrance gate

This is the family of Henry Flood, the politician and orator and he lies in the graveyard beneath a stone commemorating his father, Warden Flood, Lord Chief Justice for Ireland, and his mother Isabella Whiteside.

Memorial to Warden Flood and Isabella Whiteside, the parents of Henry Flood

 Henry Flood, for whatever reason was born in 1732 before the marriage of Warden Flood and Isabella had taken place; there were several other children born after the marriage.   Henry Flood died at Farmley on 2nd December 1791 but his illegitimacy caused problems over his Will; after making provision for his wife and other bequests, he left the bulk of his Estate to Trinity College Dublin for the study of the Irish language.  Naturally the Flood family challenged this Will on the grounds of his illegitimacy and stating he was not entitled to the Farmley Estate in the first place.  The Estate was eventually awarded to his nephew John Flood of Flood Hall. (See Henry Flood by Mary Kennedy in Old Kilkenny Review 1983, pages 518-525.  And Observations on the Bequest of Henry Flood Esq., to Trinity College, Dublin by Lawrence Parsons, Dublin 1795. This publication includes a complete copy of the last Will and Testament of Henry Flood of Farmley in the county of Kilkenny; Will dated 27th May 1790).

The Flood Mausoleum

Additionally in the graveyard there is a large mausoleum belonging to the Flood family with interments dating from 1836 which recorded on a plaque attached to the exterior wall of the mausoleum.

The church of Ireland Church, now empty and a ruin without a roof.

Amongst the other memorials here at Burnchurch is a flat stone to the Huson family which was erected by George Huson in memory of four of his children who died young, namely  Elenor, Ann, Frances and Jane and also recording the burial here of George himself, his wife Ann and their daughter Mary.  Also recorded on the stone is an inscription to the memory of Mary Ann Huson, wife of (indecipherable) of London, who died 19th January 1844 aged 27*.   The variations of the spelling of the name Huson include Hewson and  Hewetson and it is as George Hewetson, Gentleman,  of  Marsdale (sometimes spelt Moorsdale), county Kilkenny, Union of Burnchurch  that an Ossory Marriage Licence Bond records his marriage on 18th August 1769 to Ann Walton, spinster.  Both are marked as Protestant.  There are references to George in The House of Hewetson or Hewson in Ireland (1901).   George was the son of Rev Monsell Hewson (born in Briska, Diocese of Down, who married in 1728 Mabel Bolton) but there is no further information about this particular George in the book.   His children are not recorded.  Nor the Mary Ann* who died in 1844.  However George was the brother of John Hewson/Hewetson of Suirville, county Kilkenny, Justice of the Peace for Kilkenny, who died in June 1798 at the Rectory, Kilmacthomas and who was interred in Rathkieran churchyard.   George Huson's employer was the above mentioned Henry Flood of Farmley who bequeathed him "his old and faithful servant " £1000. - a considerable amount of money in 1791.  Henry Flood of Farmley has two adverts in the Freemans Leinster Journal relating to this property called Marsdale; one dated 1782 is an adverts to let the House and Desmense of Marsdale. The other advert dated 28th June 1786 is also to let the same property, the House and the Desmense ofMarsdale at Bennetsbridge.  George Huson is also referred to in Notes on Kilkenny Inns and Taverns by John G.A. Prim in the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 1862.  All this family descend from the Hewetson/Hewson family of the city of York, England.
 
 * There is 1838 marriage in St George in the East, London, of a Mary Ann Hewson to a James Robbins; this may be her.  Mary Ann would have been born in 1817 and therefore aged 21 at the time of this marriage. 

Impressive memorial to Walter Brennan, Master Mariner and to members of the Murison family.

Amongst the other interesting memorials is the following "In loving memory of Walter Brennan, Master Mariner, beloved son of Rev John Brennan Kilkenny died November 14th 1909 aged 28years".  The rest of the memorial is to the Murison family. " In loving memory of Margaret MacDonald, wife of Robert Murison, Farmley who died 2nd Sept 1917 aged 59 years and Robert Mitchel Murison, Farmley died 4th November 1942 aged 93 years. Lizzie Burroughs Crumplen, elder daughter of the above died 2nd February 1954 aged 70 years.  In memory of Eva beloved wife of William Lowe, Farmley died 19th Nov 1959 aged 66 years".  There are other members of this family recorded on an additional plaque.


Walter Brennan, Master Mariner married Lizzie (Elizabeth) Murison early in 1909, but Walter died in Callan in November of the same year. Walter Brennan can be found in the Registers of the Board of Trade where he applied for and was awarded his Master Mariner's certificate in June 1909.   His birth was 20th April 1881 and place of birth is given as Loughgall, Armagh.  These board of Trade papers describe Walter as 5 foot 9 inches tall with brown hair and blue eyes.  They record all the ships in which he sailed.   He gives his address as The Manse, Ormonde Road, Kilkenny where his father, the Rev John Brennan was the Presbyterian minister.  The 1911 Census has Lizzie, aged 27 yrs, a widow, was living back with her family(although she did eventually remarry Harold Carter Crumplen in  1920).   Her sister Eva married 23rd March 1926 William Albert Lowe, a farm manager of Burnchurch, county Kilkenny; Eva can be found in the Royal College of Nursing Registers from 1919 when she was working at the Adelaide Hospital in Dublin.  Her residence in 1921 is given as Cuffe's Grange, Kilkenny. Their father Robert Murison is described as a Land agent in the 1911 census, from Scotland and a Presbyterian but in fact he was invited to Kilkenny to manage the Farmley Estate by Colonel Beresford Flood sometime in the 1880s.  However in the British Parliamentary Papers for 1895 under Agricultural Statistics for that year he is described as Steward to Colonel J.C. Hanford, 18th Hussars, of Farmley, county Kilkenny.


The Burial Register for St Peter's Church of Ireland, Drogheda (1702-1899) records the burial on 3rd August 1887 of Jane Murison of Farmley, Kilkenny, aged 68 years, a Presbyterian.

General view of Burnchurch graveyard.

The next interesting memorials are those erected to the memory of members of the Shirley family.  The most impressive is No 84 on our list which is a High Cross. the inscription reads " Sacred to the memory of James Shirley, Coroner, who departed in the genuine peace received from the Roman Catholic Church on the 13th of January 1888.  He was ever a kind and faithful husband and a fond and indulgent father.  At his door the poor ever met with charity and kindness and the troubled blessed him as a restorer of peace and a uniter of their families.   Erected as a tribute of respectful love by his daughter Marion.  His wife Elizabeth 1826-1912, sons and daughters.   On the left side: Richard 1887-1962, Catherine O'Brien. Kells and late of Purfleet, Essex".  

 Shirley High Cross erected to the memory of James Shirley, the Coroner.

Stone No 86 reads " This stone was placed here by Mr John Shirley Burnchurch in memory of his dearly beloved spouse Mrs Mary Shirley als Rice who God called from this frail and fallible world 27th June 1825 aged 39."   Mary Rice, a catholic and the daughter of a half sister to Edmund Rice, (the founder of the Christian Brothers), married John Shirley,  a Protestant.  As was usually agreed in those days of a mixed marriage, the sons of the marriage were to be brought up as Protestants and the girls in the religion of their mother, as Catholics. There were eight children of this marriage.  It is said that Mary Rice requested Edmund Rice to pray for the conversion of her husband and sons to the Catholic faith and this duly happened.     Sometime in 1849 the Shirley family were evicted from their 46 acres farm at Burnchurch which they held from the landlord W.L. Flood Esq.,   It was originally believe that this eviction took place because of the conversion of the Shirley males to the Roman Catholic religion but the real reason was non payment of rent.  In any event the incoming tenant, Richard Holohan of Knocktopher, whilst trying to take possession of the Shirley farm met with considerable resistance and violence from the local people who did not take favourably to his tenancy and Richard Holohan had to retire.   Richard Shirley aged 30 years and brother of Henry Shirley who had lost the farm at Burnchurch  was subsequently sentenced to transportation to Van Dieman's Land and arrived in Hobart in August 1852.   (You can read about this further in an article entitled The Shirley Eviction from their farm at Burnchurch in 1850 by  C. Ashton Shirley in The Old Kilkenny Review 1999).

View of the Tower House from the graveyard

Index of names appearing on the memorials
Baker, Barden, Barron, Blake, Brennan, Brophy, Browne, Bryan, Burroughs, Butler, Byrne, Carmichael, Carroll, Claxton, Comerford, Corr, Cox, Crumplin, Dalton, Dea, Desert (Earl of), Douglas, Dowe, Dunne, Edgar, Egan, Fisher, Fitzgerald, Fleming, Flood, Forbes, Grace, Harford, Hawkins, Haye, Hays, Heltzel, Howard, Howison, Hoyne, Hughes, Huson, Izod, Jackson,Keenahan, Kelly, Kemlo, Kenahan, Kidd, Kinahan, Kinehan, Lawles, Lowe, Maher, Mains, Mangin, Manning, Marnel, Marnell, Martin, Mason, McDonald, MacNaghten, Miller, Moryss, Mullins, Murison, Nolan, Norman, Nowlan, O'Brien,  Phelan, Rice, Ridell, Roberts, Rodgers, Rutherford, Ryan, Sallinger, Shee, Shirley, Sim, Skey, Schorlock, Smith, St Leger, Sweetman, Thompson, Townsend, Waggett, Walsh, Welch, Wellerman, Whiteside, Whytte.




Skull and crossbones on Grace stone

Index of Places appearing on the memorials
Ballanlina, Ballyroberts, Ballymack, Ballymack House, Blenheim House, Booley, Burnchurch, Callan, Coalisfarm, Comerford/Commerford Grange, Cork county, Croan, Cuffesgrange, Danesfort, Darreen House, Desart, Desert, Doorpool, Dublin, Dundee, Essex, Farmley, Glasgow, Grange House, Highrath, Hyrath, Kells, Kilkenny, Kilmore, Leeds, Linlithgow, London, Maiden Hall, Meath,  Newland, Oldtown, Patrick St, Paulert (Paulerth), Pigeon Park, Priest Town, Purfleet, Racecourse, Rothstown, Roxburghshire, Scotland, Seven Houses, Sevenhouses, Tennypark, Tullamaine, Viper, Waterford, Wicklow, Wyper.

One of two winged angels representing the departing soul - on the stone erected by Martin Nowlan for his posterity and to his three sons who died in 1794 ( John), 1806 ( James)  and 1807 (Laurence).  

Occupations, titles, regiments or honours appearing on the memorials
Bengal Light Infantry (not on memorial but found by research), Captain (not on memorial but found by research), Chief Justice of Ireland, Colonel, Constable (of the castle of Kilkenny), Dublin Militia, Gamekeeper (not on memorial but found by research), Gentleman, Indian Staff Corps, K.G.C.L.H.E (not yet identified), Lieutenant Colonel, Lord (of Burnchurch),  M.D (Doctor), Master Mariner, Orator, R.E. (Royal Engineers), Rector, Rev (Reverend), Statesman, Steward (not on memorial but found by research), Surgeon, Vicar.






Masons who have signed memorials
Walter Kerin 1586 (Fitzgerald memorial),
Molloy, Callan (Claxton memorial)
O'Shea Callan (Forbes memorial)

Wonderful headstone erected in 1751. God be merciful to the soul of William Shee departed this life September 8th 1751 aged 57 and  2 of his grandchildren belonging to Michael (rest buried).   Note the very ornate capital G at the start of the inscription.  Also the top of this stone is decorated with a cross in a sunburst and a spear and sponge on a reed on each side of the cross, plus two hourglasses at each side of the sunburst and 2 skulls.