Oliver Cromwell devastates Killeagh Nunnery

Oliver Cromwell Devastates Killeagh Nunnery

(A Short History of the Historical Graveyard in Killeagh)

May, 2013

Up until the  middle of the 19th century the Graveyard was in the possession of an Anglo-Norman Family  known as de Capel or Supple  (the modern name) who settled in Killeagh in the 12th century.

However as early as the 7th century the graveyard was the traditional site of a nunnery for Canonesses  presided over by St Conchere as prioress with St Abban (Aedh), pronounced “Ah-Bawn“, being regarded as the founder.

Another body of opinion disputes this believing the first church was raised by La or Liber, a disciple of St Finbarr of Gougane Barra fame and claim the name Killeagh was derived from this.  Any attempt to resolve this divergence is made no easier by the fact that St Farrel is the traditional saint of Killeagh whilst the local primary school bears the name St Fergal.

Typical of the situation prevailing in Ireland in 1650 when Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan army passed through Killeagh on its way  to winter headquarters in Youghal he destroyed the nunnery with its Chapel, adjoining school and confiscated the graveyardin which deceased nuns and members of other Catholic families had been buried.

In later years the Protestant congregation in the area erected the present  disused Church of Ireland church and extended to their Catholic neighbours the privilege of continuing to bury deceased members of their families in the old cemetery.

Indisputably the graveyard has been a burial place from very early times as with many other Cork burial grounds. Evidence of this is the undulating and raised nature of the surface. It’s not uncommon to come across human bones exposed by the weather and many centuries of excavations. If you do come across any bones when visiting the graveyard you are asked to try to cover them or put them in a sheltered spot hidden from view.

In local lore the exact position of the nunnery is placed along a line linking Graves nos. 195 and 147 and the graveyard extended across the present Cork-Waterford highway  towards  “ Church Cottage” .

Previous to  1773 the western boundary of the graveyard ran along a line stretching from grave no.  85 to grave no. 62.

In 1771 additional ground, a half acre in extent, was given to the Parish and a decision was taken by Killeagh Select Vestry “to raise money to enclose a wall in the plot of ground given to the parish by Mr Supple as an addition to the graveyard”. Two years later on July 15, 1773 the consecration ceremony was performed by Bishop Charles Crow of Cloyne in the presence of Rev. Francis Atterbury D.D. Curate of Killeagh and other church dignitaries.

The available space satisfied demands until 1905 when a narrow strip of ground adjoining the old graveyard on it’s southern border was obtained from Mrs Patrick Cronin, the land occupier, and apportioned between the Catholics and Protestants. Further expansions took place in1935 to the Ballyquirk road. The land for the last expansion was acquired from the Cistercian Community of Mount Melleray, Cappoquin, Co. Waterford to whom  Mrs Cronin of Church Cottage  bequeathed her farm of 150 acres.

Among those buried in the graveyard are John Davis Tomb no. 98, land agent to the Supples, who built “Barracks House” currently owned by the Aherns. His descendants subsequently became successors to the original grantees, the Supples, and owned large tracts of land in Killeagh and the surrounding areas. Dromdihy House, currently in ruins, and Killeagh house in the Main street were also built by the Davis family.

Nationalist aspirations have always been strong in East Cork and it’s not surprising that we should find in Killeagh the family graves of those involved in some or other of the various political movements. Notable of these were Timothy Daly Grave no. 94 who fell fighting for his country’s independence in Castlematyr on March 6, 1867, and the O’Keeffe family grave no. 25 whose sons were also involved in the Castlematyr  uprising.

It would be amiss not to mention  Bishop John Quinlan of Mobile, USA , son of Timothy Quinlan of Ballycurnane , grave 244, who during the American Civil War administered to both sides , was a delegate to the Vatican Council and became famous for introducing Benedictine Fathers into North Alabama and several orders of  Teaching Sisters.  He was described as a “man of powerful frame, robust constitution and energetic mind”.

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Additional reading:

Cork Historical & Archaeological Journal: R Henchion,  Jul – Dec 1972, The Gravestone Inscriptions of Co. Cork – IX, Killeagh Burial ground.