Errigal Old Church, Graveyard and Holy Well

Overview | Archaeological Notes | Other sites with similar gravestones | Other Archaeological Sites close to Errigal Truagh | Image Gallery | How to get there

Overview

The church, graveyard and holy well here are dedicated to St Muadain or Mellan. St. Muadain is a 6th century saint and the old name was Errigal Muadain meaning habitation or house of Muadain.  It is the site of a medieval parish church. The church was built and rebuilt by the Catholics of the parish, but it was taken possession of by the ministers of religion introduced by Henry VIII prior to 1622 as in 1622 it is recorded that the church was already in ruins.

The graveyard holds the remains of both Catholics and Protestants and the ground is raised much higher than it was originally by the accumulation of human dust and ashes. A lot of the monuments have disappeared from the cemetery; they have been covered in the gradual elevation of the ground, resulting from successive burials.

Some of the family of the local landlords the Anketells and the Singletons are buried here. They are buried in a walled off section inside the church and an inscription on the ledge of the walled area reads:  "The burial place of Anketells of Cassaughmone and Dernamuch 1687 to 1839". Cassaughmone was the old name for the townland of Ivy Hill. The Anketells of Dungillick are buried behind the schoolhouse in a little garden.

Dr. Patrick Mulligan former Bishop of Clogher and Theo McMahon, Historian and Fr. Patrick McEntee recorded all the headstones in 1987 and the oldest headstone they came across was 1670. The most common was McKenna and then Treanors, Sweeneys, McMeels, McGahey, Connolly, McVicar, McGeough.

It is probable that there were more ancient monuments here, but they may have been destroyed because they bore evidence of the Catholic practice of praying for the souls of the dead.  It is noted from the inscriptions copied from the headstones of Catholics that there is no appeal for prayers for the repose of their souls. The reason being that the Protestant clergy, who were the legal custodians of the cemetery, excluded the inscription which asked for prayers for the dead. They also charged the Catholics a smart fee for burying their dead with their kith and kin and denied them the services of a priest.

The headstones are thought to be the work of McKay family from Donagh parish as there is a headstone in Donagh recording the death, in 1787, of a stone cutter named McKay from Glennan quarry, this quarry is now worked out, but the stone found there appears to be similar to these headstones.

The headstones are very elaborate in design, the most common feature on the front is a bird holding a twig in its beak, probably representing the olive twig brought to Noah announcing the end of the flood. The McKenna headstones bear the family coat of arms.

A very interesting legend connected with Errigal graveyard would probably have been lost had not the poet William Carleton made a beautiful ballad of the Churchyard Bride.  It was believed that the graveyard was haunted by an amorous spirit which appeared to a young person who remained last in the graveyard after a funeral, it took the form of a handsome man and appeared to a young girl and a beautiful girl to a young man. It presented an irresistible affection and extracted a promise to meet exactly a month from that day and the promise was sealed with a kiss. When the young person left the graveyard they remembered the history of the graveyard spirit and lost all will to live. Exactly a month later the victim’s remains were carried to the graveyard.

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Archaeological Notes

The church, graveyard and holy well are dedicated to Muadain. It may have been an Early Christian foundation but there are no known literary references or archaeological remains to support this. The name “Errigal” (oratory) implies that the site is on of considerable antiquity.

The earliest remains on the site are the gables of a medieval church, with little to indicate date. There is a window in the east wall but with no notable architectural features surviving. The west gable is possible of an earlier date, being much thicker (approximately 1.6m). The splayed doorway with a round arch in the west wall is obviously a later feature as clear signs remain of a window above it, which must have been filled in before the construction of the door. The masonry of the arch looks as if it has been interfered with, and this may be due to its have relocated in its present position. The masonry of the filled in window above it contains sockets which possible supported the joists of a gallery. These changes may have been made after 1622, when the church is recorded as having been in a ruinous condition. The Royal Visitation Papers record that the church was already in ruins in 1622. Source: Leslie, J.B., Clogher Clergy and Parishes, Enniskillen. The East gable may also be post 1622; its thinner construction suggests the possibility that it represents a chancel added to an order nave. It is presumed in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the church remained active until the construction of the present St. Muadain’s in 1834.

The door of the East gable now leads to a burial enclosure or lair. An inscription records that this was “The burial place of the Aneketills or Ankettells of Cassaughmone and Dernamuck 1687 to 1839”, though the enclosure and tombs appear to be 19th century. There is a further group of Anketell graves in a small walled off corner in the north west of the graveyard. Anna Brindley records that …“Two carved heads, bracket coping and sheela-na-gig now in Ulster Museum” were removed from this site. Source: Archaeological inventory of County Monaghan, Dublin 1986.  Sheela na Gigs (or Sheela-na-Gigs) are figurative carvings of naked women displaying an exaggerated genitalia. They are found on churches, castles and other buildings sometimes together with male figures.   These carvings occur commonly in Ireland and Britain and are said to ward off death and evil.

Much of the land of the Barony of Truagh had passed out of Irish hands before the Rising of 1641, although the McKennas and McMahons still had considerable estates. Matthew Anketell (or Anketill) was one of the largest of the new landowners and his family had its seat at Anketell Grove, halfway between Monaghan and Emyvale. Matthew’s father Oliver was the first of the family to settle in Monaghan they came originally from Shaftsbury in England.  The Singletons settled at Fort Singleton in Aghaliskeevan townland in Errigal.

The graveyard also contains a collection of carved headstones of 17th/18th century date. The earliest examples are of late seventeenth century date and are flat slabs. Many of them commemorate Scottish or English settlers in the area and they were buried in the local graveyard, regardless of religious persuasion. They are used to mark family graves, the inscriptions generally referring to the head of the family at the time they settled there. No further inscriptions were added although the graves continued to be used for many further burials. The stones of the early Scottish settlers usually displayed some heraldic devices and some symbols of death. The Irish adopted the custom of using gravestones at this time and there are numerous McKenna graves, the earliest recorded dating to 1666. There are also a number of clerical graves.

Some of these flat slabs are contained within walled and railed enclosure, or lair, north of the east gable which contains three flat slabs commemorating members of the Singleton family on dates ranging from 1742 to 1842. Another enclosure north west of the church ruins, rebuilt in 1980, has an old doorway with the inscription “Arise ye dead and come to Judgement”, above which are two angels blowing trumpets. Theo McMahon identifies this as the Sweeny vault.

During the eighteenth century upright headstones came into fashion and many of these were decorated in a very ornate and stylised way. As the sandstone used was of local origin and they are of the same cut, it is probable that the stones were blanks cut by the McKays of Glennan near Glaslough who were stone cutters registered in the Coote Statistical Survey of 1801. They form part of an extremely distinct group carved in North Monaghan, South Tyrone and South and East Fermanagh between circa 1720 and 1780 and are probably the work of a single workshop of stonecutters, wandering journeyman who did their work in the area as required. The products of their work are found in a number of graveyards in Monaghan, Fermanagh and Tyrone.

Although the stones vary in content, their composition is the same. The front or east face bears the inscription generally flanked on each side by a bird holding a leaf in its beak, presumably the drove bringing the olive to Noah signifying the end of the flood. The upper part of the stone has two kneeling praying figures facing each other and above them a pair of cherub heads. The decoration on the back or west face of the stones includes individual coat of arms which do not fit with traditional heraldic forms below which was frequently an Adam and Eve scene. The sides of the stones are sometimes decorated with standing figures usually wearing skins. Despite the fact that the language spoken in the area at the time was Irish, there is only one stone with words in Irish on it, there are some Latin inscriptions but the majority are in English.

This important collection of headstones are the most distinguished feature of this graveyard, and are linked in style to those found in a group of graveyards which form a circle around Sliabh Beagh, in Counties Fermanagh, Monaghan and Tyrone.

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Other graveyards with similar gravestones

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Other Archaeological Sites Close to Errigal Truagh, Monaghan

The earliest archaeological monuments found in the area are the court tombs of the early Neolithic Era and their derivatives, the Portal Tombs. They are scattered fairly widely but there is a concentration north of Newbliss which includes Cloghernagh (map reference H5892850) and Cairnbane (H61292911). Other good examples include Creggandevesky (H643750), Cregganconroe (H633758) and Aghnaglack.

The tradition of megalithic tomb building continued into the Bronze Age and there is a fine example of a wedge shaped gallery grave of this period at Calliagh (H63572674). Other monuments from this period are the standing stones at Mawkish More (H91330944) and Comeraghs/Drumirril where there are at least seventy examples of cup and ring marks on five areas of rock outcrop. Further evidence for the period is found in the Beaghmore (H685842) and Drumskinny (H201707) group of monuments, which include stone circles, cairns ad alignments.

Evidence for the Iron Age is seen in hillforts such as Raferagh (H75220396), Clogher (H539514) and, not far away, the well know site of Eamhain Mhaca in Armagh (H947452). Sites 73 – 156 in the Archaeological Inventory of County Monaghan are crannogs, while “earthworks” (1289-378) (many marked “fort” on the early OS maps). “Enclosures (397-474) and “Ringforts” (479-1148) account for the vast majority of the surviving monuments in the county. Modern Scholarship assigns this habitation sites to the Early Medieval period, but it is possible that they were already in use during the Iron Age.

The arrival of Christianity in the early 5th century results in the appearance of ecclesiastical sites founded by the early Irish saints. Errigal Truagh is itself a possible example of this type of site. St. Tighernach’s 6th century foundation at Clones with its Round Tower, High Cross and church is another. The cross which is now in the Diamond (Market Place) consists of the head and shafts of two separate 9th or 10th century crosses and has weathered figurations of the cross on the north and south faces, as well as geometric decoration. Nearby is a house shaped shrine known as St. Tighernach’s Shrine. The round two survives to about 75 feet in height. The two graveyards here also contain fine examples of the 17th and 18th century headstones of the kind found at Errigal Truagh.

Other early foundations occur at Inniskeane (H9307), (Cross and Abbey, the 9th century site of Derryloran (H805768), Errigal Keernogue (H585570) in the Clogher Valley, White Island (H175600) and Devinish (H224469), Arboe (H966765).

The arrival of the Normans signalled by the appearance of such monastic orders as the Augustinians at Clogher (H539514), Armagh (H874453), Clones (H5026) and Devinish (H224469). Secular sites of this period are found in the form of the motte and bailey at Clones (H5026) and Donaghmore (H8508), the later surmounted by the ruins of a 12th century castle.

The area is rich in later remains such as the 15th century castle at Enniskillen (H231442) and the later Plantation castles of the 16th century including Castle Archdale (H186599), Castle Balfour (H362337), Monea (H164493) and Castle Caulfield (H755626).

The 19th century stately home of the Leslie family, Castle Leslie at Glaslough contains many interesting features and works of art and is open to the public for part of the year.

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Image Gallery

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How to get there

Travelling north from Emyvale, and on the road to Aughnacloy, turn left , following the sign for Errigal Truagh Church.  Just beyond this Church of Ireland church is the Errigal Graveyard and the ruin of St. Mellan's.

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