As part of the Banagher Traditional Skills Festival this coming weekend two outdoor heritage events have been organised. On Friday evening next, 22nd August  there will be a guided walk to Kilrynagh ,the old church and graveyard in Church Street and to St. Paul’s, Church of Ireland graveyard at the top of the town.

Source:Wikipedia

Source:Wikipedia

The walk will focus on the art and craft of the stonecutters whose work adorns many of the tombstones as well as highlighting the genealogical information available from reading inscriptions. The memorials date from the Sixteenth Century to recent decades and record details of many local families. Among these are the MacCoghlans, Armstrongs, Bells, Buckleys, Egans, Feigherys, Finneys, Flatterys, Hartons, Horans, McIntyres, Millers ,Molloys, Mulhares, Woods, Wyatts  and many more.

Individual tombstones of note to be visited in Kilrynagh  include the tombs of the Misses Anne and Mary Fox whose generosity facilitated the coming of the La Sainte Union nuns to Banagher in 1863; the wrought iron cross of Nicholas Andrews  of Drogheda who died at Shannon Harbour in 1878; the World War 1 memorial to Corporal P.McLaughlin and the late sixteenth century tombstone of Sir John MacCoghlan. Hopefully the viewing of the Bell family headstones in St.Paul’s will generate discussion on the Bronte connection with Banagher. Among this group is the memorial to Arthur Bell Nicholls, husband of Charlotte Bronte, who retired to Banagher after her death and that of her father, in 1861 and lived on here until he died in 1906.

Source:Wikipedia

The walk will start from the front door of Crank House, Main  Street at 6.30 p.m. and should finish there at 9p.m. In the event of very poor weather a visual presentation will be made at an indoor venue nearby. There is no charge for this event and everybody is welcome to come along but to help better organisation you can book at here  or ring Aileen at  087 943  0489 or James at 085 710 7569