Old Kilskeagh Church & Graveyard: Blessing of Graves & Tour

A blessing of the graves in the Old Kilskeagh Graveyard will take place at 7pm on Friday 22nd August. This will be the first blessing of this abandoned graveyard for over a hundred years, which up until two years ago, was completely hidden by overgrowth and inaccessible to the public. The clearance of the site in recent times has uncovered an important historic and archaeological landscape - with visible remains of a medieval church, structures which may date to the medieval period and to the old market town which once thrived in the area, as well as a graveyard that was in use by the community for hundreds of years. There will also be two short talks on the evening – one by archaeologist Donna Gilligan regarding the amazing history of this ancient site, as well as a talk by ecologist John Lusby on the site’s rich biodiversity.

As this graveyard site was previously hidden and inaccessible for many decades, we would be very pleased if people used this opportunity to visit the site on the 22nd and engage with their local past.

Those attending on the evening will need to give themselves ample time to enter the route into the graveyard. Those wishing to access the site should be aware that the cleared pathway to the graveyard through the overgrowth is on very rough, uneven ground which may be slippy – older visitors will need close assistance and time to walk the path safely. A small number of fold away chairs will be available on site for anybody that requires them.

There will be a steward on the road at the access point in Kilskeagh. From here, visitors can walk or drive through Spellman's fields to the boundary wall of the graveyard site, and walk the 150 yards into the graveyard.

No booking is required and everyone is welcome. Kilskeagh Heritage Committee chairman John Tarpey can be contacted at the number here for any enquiries about the event. Please keep an eye on our Facebook page "Kilskeagh Church and Graveyard Custodians" for any last minute time changes that may be forced upon us due to the weather forecast.