This is the beautiful medieval graveyard at Aughadown
on the banks of the river Ilen,
west of Skibbereen town in West Cork.
There are centuries of burials here in Aughadown,
generations of local people, including soldiers who fought in battle,
an heroic Famine doctor, and the man who 'saved' Skibbereen.
My name is Terri and I'm from Skibbereen Heritage Centre,
and I'm here with local historian William Casey
to bring you on a short tour of this very interesting site.
The tomb of the Becher family is in the quiet northwest corner of this graveyard.
This is the tomb of Colonel Thomas Becher who was the major landlord in this area,
and when he died he had 30,000 acres of land. It is said that you could walk
from Skibbereen to Crookhaven and never leave the Becher land.
In 1690, Colonel Thomas Becher was aide de camp to King William of Orange
at the Battle of the Boyne.
And after the battle, the King came up to Colonel Thomas Becher
he was at the time, and said Colonel what time is it?
He said, unfortunately your Majesty, I don't have a watch.
so afterwards King William presented Colonel Thomas Becher with a watch,
which is still in the Becher family it's in London now with the family.
So a connection from Aughadown to one of the major battles of Irish and and European history.
A few feet away from Colonel Becher is the grave of Pat McCarthy.
Pat was a member of the Third Cork Brigade of the old IRA during the War of Independence
and he was at the battle of Kilmichael.
Private Patrick McCarthy was shot during the Irish Civil War in 1922.
He was on duty here in Skibbereen overlooking the old RIC Barracks,
when he lit a cigarette, the light alerted the enemy to his presence and he was shot,
and later died aged just 22.
So within a few feet of each other, somebody who fought at Kilmichael
and someone who fought at the Battle of the Boyne.
A hero from another era, Dr Stephen Sweetnam, is also buried here.
Dr Sweetnam was the dispensary doctor in Schull, during Ireland's Great Famine,
and, like many others, risked his life daily
to help the people of this locality during that terrible time.
There are many other major land owning and merchant families buried here in Aughadown,
including John Francis Levis of Skibbereen.
John Francis's family were major property owners in Skibbereen,
and Levis' Quay in the town is named in their honor.
John F. Levis is credited with saving Skibbereen from being renamed as Ilenmore after the Famine.
His funeral cortege was said to have been a mile long
coming out here to Aughadown, such was his popularity.
The first written account of this site dates from 1199,
but nothing remains of the earliest church which was located in the upper,
older area of the graveyard.
The existing ruin is of St Matthew's Church built in 1812,
by Jack Long of Aughadown for his father-in-law Reverend Joseph Wright.
Both men are buried in Aughadown graveyard.
This Protestant church was only in use for 60 years,
but the site contains graves from the Roman Catholic,
Church of Ireland, and Methodist communities.
The earlier burials in Aughadown are marked by simple uninscribed stones,
so the first inscribed headstone is from 1703.
Local folklore says that some unbaptised babies are buried on the river side of this graveyard.
Generations of local people are buried here including
the ancestors of local historian William Casey,
His Casey side from Big Marsh
and his McCarthy ancestors from Poulnacallee.
This is a beautiful location to visit in person, but you can also visit it virtually
using the survey carried out by William some years ago which is available on our website.
but meanwhile here is just a selection of some of the monuments,
and their inscriptions in Aughadown graveyard.