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Photo Story of the Week: This Tuesday we travel along the Priest”s Leap route between the Counties Cork and Kerry

Ireland’s history and souls resting peacefully in St Feaghna Burial Ground

St Feaghna Burial Grounds, set high in the mountains at Garranes near Bonane, Co Kerry on the Priest’s Leap route, is one of the oldest Christian burial sites still in use in Ireland. St. Feaghna, born in Kealkil County Cork and patron saint of the nearby village of Bonane, once built a church in the grounds of at the graveyard.

The graveyard consists of an inner wall and an outer wall. The inner wall is a much older structure; possibly dating back to pre-Christian times. The outer wall was constructed during the time of the Great Famine in the 1840s as a relief project using labour of the starving people of this potato blight-ridden land. Graves, known as cilleanachs, lieing in the unhallowed ground between these two walls, hold suicide victims, un-baptised babies and still-births. These people could not be buried in consecrated ground at that time; their graves remind us of an era when harsh church rules governed its devout followers.

Even such a remote ancient graveyard is not far from the dramatic and often painful events in Irish history. The links between Irish Catholicism and the ancient Celtic Religions; the effects of the Great Famine and the role of the British government in it; the often very harsh practices of the early Catholic Church; have all helped shape this graveyard.

Nevertheless; the sheer tranquility of the graveyard’s setting must still provide comfort to the local community. Knowing that their ancestors rest peacefully, as they might also rest eventually, in this beautiful and historic place, must provide great solace.

 

 

Photographic specifications: The photos in this montage were taken at various focal lengths and exposure settings. Editing was done in Lightroom.

© Kevin Balanda

 

This story / page is available in: German