gallery graves ireland

Legend has it that the first people to the buried here were Danes, who brought soil from Scandinavia so that they could rest in their own soil. Whether true or not, locals say that the soil at Ballypriormore is sandier than elsewhere in Islandmagee. Many old gravestones are to be found in the cemetery, which is accessed along a small lane just past Ballypriormore School....

This area is rich in sites that stretch much further back into history, back to the beginnings of Christianity in Ireland, and back still further to the time of the Celts. Ardstraw Graveyard is all that remains of the church founded by St Eoghan in the 6th Century which remained the seat of the local bishop until the 12th century, when it came under the power of the bishop of Derry....

The Patron Saint of Ireland was buried on Cathedral Hill in 461 AD. His grave is a place of pilgrimage on St. Patrick's Day (17 March)....

The ancient Graveyard of Killbroney is situated on the Hilltown Road about a half a mile from Rostrevor. The ruins of the 12th Century Church of St. Bronach can be found here and nearby, St Bronach's Well (over which a shrine was erected in 1938) is said to have curative properties. St. Bronach's Bell, which dates back to the early Christian era is now on display in the local Roman Catholic Church, having been discovered in a fallen oak tree near the Old Chapel in 1855. The Giant Murphy's Gr...

Last resting place of John Redmond, who became leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party at Westminister in 1900. He brought the Party together after it was fragmented by the scandal of Charles Stewart Parnell and his affair with Kitty O' Shea. Parnell was a charismatic leader who fought the cause of the Irish tenant farmer and Home Rule for Ireland through the Parliament at Westminister. He died in 1891, leaving a nation bitterly divided after his controversial downfall. Redmond actively rec...

"Glen of the Army" this is the age old home of the McDonnell's accient clan....

Take the road north west for Gleann Cholm Cille (Glencolumbkille). You will reach a junction where you take the left fork, signposted Malinbeg. After a few km, Glenmalin Court Cairn is signposted, left.

The landscape in this are is bleak and wonderfully wild....

This classical-style church was built in 1827. Its site was donated by James J. Taylor of Swords House. The church has been altered over the years.

A two-storey vestry was added to the rear in 1879 and in 1924 the facade was altered by Francis P. Russell.

Among those interred in the graveyard are some prominent legends in Irish history, most notably A.J. Kettle (1833-1916), the famous Irish patriot who was known as Parnell's "right hand man"....

This area has strong connections with the Anglo-Norman Agnew family, and the cemetery has many stones of early families associated with the castle and surrounding areas....

This old cemetery at Ballycarry includes the ruins of Ireland's first Presbyterian Church within its boundaries, as well as the grave of the first Presbyterian minister in Ireland, Rev. Edward Brice, who died in 1636. Some 50 graves of general historical note are marked as part of the Templecorran Cemetery Project and guided tours for groups can be arranged by the Ballycarry Community Association....