The Story of Tankardstown Graveyard, Co. Limerick

This ruined church and adjoining graveyard are in the townland of Tankardstown South and part of the parish of Tankardstown, in the barony of Coshma. The name Tankardstown translates to ‘Baile Thancaird‘ , the Town of Tancard, Tancard being a personal name (Logainm.ie). Tankardstown was refered to as Ballytankard, Ballyhancard and Ballytantard in Medieval times, ( Westropp, 1904-5).

 

The church and graveyard are located west of Kilmallock town, north of the Loobagh River and south of L.?.The entrance to the graveyard from this road is marked by two small white piers and a wall which are at the start of a trackway to the site. The entrance gate is in the eastern boundary. The graveyard is L-shaped and measures 55m N-S x 135m E-W and is enclosed by a post 1700 stone wall.

 

The church was built in 1923, on the site of an perhaps a medieval parish church with written records dating back to 1291 and 1303. The church was dedicated to St. David in 1410, (feast day, March 1st). Fragments of three church walls survive showing approximate dimensions of 13m x 7.5m E-W with the south wall surviving to a height of 3.65m. 

 

A total of 158 memorials were recorded in the survey. A very fine collection of 18th and 19th century headstones are present. Only six memorials date to the 18th century. The earliest date recorded is on the memorial commemorating the burial place of Thomas John Howard Smith who died in 1756, (memorial no. 0101).

Surnames include Hennessy, Simmons, Walsh, Fitzgerald, Clarkson, Kennedy, Purcell, Carey, Hickey, Wall, Moloney, Howard and Lynch. 

 

Interesting Facts

A mature ash tree potentially over 150 years old still survives at the west end of the ruined church. 

Local folklore suggests that a low E-W oriented mound may be the remains of a common grave associated with Famine burials before the opening of a burial ground for Kilmallock Workhouse.

 

Joseph K. Bracken was one of the seven GAA founders in 1884. He was a local politician and a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He is buried in this graveyard (memorial number 0143, Historic graves.ie), commemorated with a Celtic Cross. He and his family ran a successful stone-cutting and monumental business in Templemore. He died in 1904….His son Brendan was Minister for Information in Britain during World War 11, later becoming Viscount Bracken of Christchurch and one of the founders of the Financial Times newspaper.

 

18th Century Memorials in Tankardstown

0080 Mary Kennedy 1761

0097 William Hickey 1778

0098 David Wall 1790

0100 Thomas Riordan 1798

0101 Thomas John Howard Smith 1756

0104 John Hure 1794