The Graveyard at Donohill

      

     As a member of the group, Ireland Reaching Out, I receive regular newsletters from them in my e-mailbox.  One communication in April contained a fascinating discussion of Irish graveyards. The article noted among other things, ancestral burial grounds are the holy grail and finding yours is a huge accomplishment; it also reminded researchers not to underestimate the importance the Catholic Irish placed on being buried with their kin. Even if the death occurred in a different parish it was common for the deceased to be brought "home" for burial; and notably, this held true even if those kin were interred in a protestant graveyard.  Some of those ancient parish burial grounds had come under control of the Church of Ireland during the reformation and penal times; however, being buried with one's family far outweighed the importance of the burial place.  That could actually be helpful to researchers I would think, as protestants were much more likely to have kept burial records for us to find.

     But how, I wondered, could a graveyard have been in use for centuries and not be enormous?  An article online answered that question.  The graves were reused.  When a family member passed away the grave would be reopened for them.  In the 19th century laws were passed that limited this practice, but no doubt it continued albeit at a lesser rate.

       Recently, completely by accident, I may have stumbled upon my O'Dwyer ancestor's burial ground in County Tipperary.  I was attempting to get a look at Churchfield in the Parish of Donohill, on Google Maps, but the site wouldn't allow me to set the wee street view person down in that place.  The village of Donohill was the closest I could get, so I landed there and took a stroll down Davis Street, inching my way closer to Churchfield on the map. When directly across from Churchfield I turned the "person" and looked across the fields towards it.  There upon a rise was a large graveyard!  That's me on Davis Street down in the bottom left corner.  The red balloon on the map is Churchfield.

     I was not expecting that. I quickly opened another window to do a search for "Donohill Graveyard" and found that the place was an historic landmark located on the lands of Churchfield, but surprisingly little else, next to nothing in fact.  I'm not even sure it was designated a landmark because of it's antiquity or because Daniel Breen, leader of the Third Tipperary Brigade and considered the man who fired the first shot in the War of Independence in 1919, was buried there.  A photo online shows the remains of vegetation shrouded walls in the middle of the graveyard, making it appear to be quite old, it once may have been a church yard.  The Tithe Applotment Books actually refer to the place as "Church field of Donohill".  I find it odd there isn't more information available online about the place.  Not even Google Books has much.

     In looking at the old 6 inch OSI map of Churchfield from about 1830, my suspicions about a church yard were confirmed as was the supposition the burial spot was very old.  On this map the grave yard can be seen delineated from the church with the words, "in ruins", next to it.  Even at that early date there was nothing left but remnants of the church.  Above it on the map can be seen St. James' Well, a vestige from pagan times, converted after the coming of Christianity to a sort of shrine to St. James the Apostle.  Pattern day at this well was 27 July, when the faithful gathered there with Mass sometimes being said.  In my mind's eye I can see the O'Dwyer family walking the short distance to the well, gathering there with their neighbors to recite a Gaelic prayer to St. James.

     Of course, without knowing where my fourth-great-grandfather Andrew O'Dwyer was born I can't say this is positively the long lost burial ground of my O'Dwyers though it could well be given it's age and location.  All I know for certain is that Andrew's daughter Alice, my third-great-grandmother, was living in Churchfield in 1824 when she married Cornelius Ryan and that there were other O'Dwyers there as well, Jeremiah, Timothy, and Andrew, as shown in Griffith's Valuation.  Andrew in the Valuation may be Alice's father or her brother Andrew Jr.  The best bet I've found for Andrew Sr. in the earlier Tithe Applotments is an Andrew Dwyer living in Silverhill, about a mile and a half south of Churchfield.  In Churchfield itself, Timothy, Darby (being a variation of Jeremiah), and John Dwyer appear in the Applotment Books.  Perhaps Andrew had left Churchfield to find work nearby, ending up in Silverhill, and Donohill Graveyard, so close, is indeed the right spot?