Stories

This is one of the most moving headstones we have recorded in the last seven years. Day 2 of Gallon graveyard survey and we were in the middle of the photography. As we stood in front of this Latin cross we saw it was decorated with cockle shells and that it was dedicated to Mary Gormley who died aged 7 in 1935. Gallon is situated nearly 50 km from the coast so the family either already had cockle shells, maybe even collected by Mary herself, or went and got the shells deliberately to decorate her home -made headstone.

It is rare to meet a living organism this old. This yew tree is part of a larger stand of trees which appear to be over 1000 years old and could even be twice that age. The ancient yews were not cut out when the Clee Hills were heavily worked during the industrial revolution and this is probably associated with their great age but also their association with the holy well of Hope Bagot.

You will find Hope Bagot graveyard in a wooded glen at the southern foot of the Clee Hills, immediately south of Cleehill village. Students from Lacon Childe secondary school recorded the historic headstones in this graveyard in 2015 and at the end of their project scripted, recorded and edited this video in the field using an ipod touch. For many of the students it was their first engagement with churchyards and the history they contain.

St. John the Baptist Church is located on the opposite side of Bawnatemple townland to Canovee Graveyard, on the boundary with Coolnasoon and Cooldrum townlands. The church was built in 1869 on the site of an older church marked on the 1st ed. OS as 'R.C. Chapel' (1840s) and across the road from the old National School House and the site named as 'Kilcoulaghta graveyard' on the 1st Edition OS (1840s). Canon John Foley was Parish Priest of Kilmurry Parish at the time.