Community research project on medieval Offaly graveyard

There was great news from Shinrone Heritage Group this week as they announced that The Heritage Council had agreed to fund a community research project focusing on the medieval graveyard of St. Mary’s Church of Ireland.

Ger Murphy explained the funding was secured for the Heritage Group to commission research on the grave memorials at the site and undertake a geophysical survey in the hope of locating the subterranean remains of the medieval church at St. Mary’s.

“We are all thrilled here in Shinone to have been awarded this funding, which enables our community to explore, record, and celebrate our rich past here in South Offaly,” he said, adding that Shinrone Heritage Group was one of over 400 who submitted applications for funding from The Heritage Council, of which 100 were selected.

Ger was keen to emphasise that the community recognised the time and effort of all who contributed to making the application a success, including Stepehn Callaghan, St. Mary’s Church Vestry, Amanda Pedlow of Offaly Heritage and Dr Denis Shine of Irish Heritage School.

The Heritage Group is working closely with historian Stephen Callaghan to survey the memorials and archaeologist Dr. Ger Dowling to undertake the geophysical survey of where old maps indicate the medieval church was located.

“Having both Stephen and Ger Dowling on board from the outset was key to our application's success with The Heritage Council recognising that the ‘project structure is well supported, with good expertise available’,” he explained.

The present Church of St. Mary’s was built in the 1820s, replacing an earlier church that was located on the grounds of the current graveyard. The old church is shown on the Down Survey Map of c1657 and described at that time as ‘the walls of a church’, a reference likely reflecting its ruinous state following the Cromwellian Wars.

“We can assume,” says Ger Murphy, “that the church was rebuilt in the following years, and by 1809 it was depicted as a T-plan structure on William Larkin’s Map of County Offaly.”

He adds that evidence from the old maps, a number of masonry fragments reused as grave markers, and a portion of a twinlight ogee window all support the belief that the church's origins were in the later medieval period.

Dr. Dowling outlined that the geophysical survey will seek to identify any walls lying below the surface. Ger said the use of geophysical surveying enables a 'digital dig' below the surface without disturbing burials.

Stephen Callaghan, who recently completed a similar survey of Kilcommon, was keen to point out that an initial assessment of the memorials in Shinrone had already identified a number of unique and important grave markers. Stephen added that field research like that being undertaken by Dr Dowling and himself was key to capturing the stories of those interred in St. Mary’s and the historical significance of the site to the development of Shinrone Village.

And is all this research on the dead not plain macabre? Ger Murphy thinks not commenting: “No matter what one’s status is in life, the dance of death unites us all. Shinrone Heritage Group will be sharing their preliminary findings of the memorial survey and geophysical scan during Heritage Week.”