Cloheen graveyard, Co. Limerick: evidence of its medieval past

Exploring the evidence for the medieval origins of a church site at Cloheen (Ballynahinch) near the medieval town of Kilmallock.

Cloheen graveyard, in the south Limerick parish of Knocklong and the townland of Ballynahinch, is located about 9km east of Kilmallock town. Situated on a slight rise in good land, this small cemetery is rectangular in plan, enclosed with a stone wall, which was built post-1700, and is entered through a stile in the east wall. Small, seemingly uninscribed gravemarkers and modern headstones, boasting memorials dating from the 18th century onwards, dominate within.

Although no obvious sign of a church building has survived, a slight rise in the ground level in the northern portion of the graveyard could mark the site of the church. The possible foundations of the church were also identified towards the north of the site during a survey undertaken by Historic Graves in 2013. Just east of the graveyard depressions in the ground may represent part of an in-filled ditch, possibly the remains of a larger enclosure surrounding the graveyard. Church sites dating to the early medieval period (which spanned the 5th–12th centuries), were often enclosed by one or more circular or curvilinear enclosures which served to denote different degrees of sanctity.

In 1840, an Ordnance Survey letter describes the graveyard as follows:

“… a burying ground at present much used … It is situated in a pasture field and is enclosed with a stone wall of mason work. No traces of a Church are now found here. Many monumental stones belonging to respectable families are seen within this burial ground. I am informed a Patron is held here on the 3rd of August, Lady Day.”

Aside from the topographical indicators, there is also documentary evidence pointing to a probable medieval church at this location. The neighbouring townland to the north is Doonmoon. The Papal Taxation of 1302–06 values the “Church of Donmonne” in the “Deanery of Grene” (Grean) at 4 marks, which equates to 53 shillings and 4 pence. We can see from the taxation records that this was one of the higher levies listed for the Deanery of Grean, and presumably this indicates that this church was a substantial building for its time, though it was by no means a major site.

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There are, however, no remains of any church or cemetery in Doonmoon townland, though a number of uncategorized enclosures and earthworks have been recorded there. Given the lack of convincing evidence for locating the “Church of Donmonne” in the townland carrying its name, it seems highly likely that this is the earliest reference to the church that once stood in Cloheen graveyard.

The site’s name is also of interest: Cloheen or An Cloichín translates as little stone, with “clogh” being the Irish for stone. In medieval Ireland, buildings were typically constructed from a combination of timber and earth, with stone buildings somewhat rare. Stone was reserved for important buildings such as churches, round towers, castles and fortifications, though certainly it was used more and more as the medieval period progressed. Because stone buildings were rather uncommon features in the landscape, the Irish placename element “clogh” is often associated with townlands or places wherein medieval castles or churches had been erected. While An Cloichín could refer to the nearby castle (tower house) in Ballynahinch townland, the use of the suffix ­”-ín” meaning “little” or “small” is more in keeping with a modest church building.

About half a kilometre to the west of the graveyard is a holy well, also in the townland of Ballynahinch. The Field Name Books, compiled by Ordnance Survey researcher John O’Donovan in c.1839, identified this as “Tubbergubbanit” (“Tobar Ghobnait”) or “Deborah’s Well”, with Deborah being one of the Anglicized variations of the name Gobnait. On all of the Ordnance Survey maps it is identified as “Deborah’s Well”.

The early medieval female saint Gobnait is most commonly associated with Ballyvourney, in Co. Cork, but she was also patron of churches and wells in other parts of Cork, Kerry, Waterford and on Inisheer of the Aran Islands, Co. Galway.

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The saint’s legend, which survives only in the oral tradition, tells us that she set off from the island – founding churches along the way – to find nine white deer foretold for the site of her future church, which she founded at Ballyvourney. Could the “Church of Donmonne” at Cloheen have also been one of her foundations?

In c.1905, Limerick antiquarian T.J. Westropp (1860–1922) visited Cloheen graveyard and the nearby well. Like the Ordnance Surveyors before him, Westropp referred to an annual pattern associated with the well held on 3 August. A ‘pattern’ (from ‘patron’) is a special ritual of devotion made annually usually to the patron of a church or holy well, but notably this date is not St Gobnait’s feastday, which depending on the church site was celebrated on 10th / 11th / 12th February.

Today no tradition survives connected with this well and in the 1950s Caoimhín Ó Danachair, as part of his survey of holy wells in Limerick, cast doubt over it being a holy well though he provides no explanation for this theory. Given its proximity to the probable medieval church site and its association – at least in name – with an early medieval saint, it seems likely that this holy well also had its origins in the medieval period.

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