Abbey ruins – Donegal

As I was creating my previous posts on the abbey ruins and cemetery in Donegal, I realized how many of my photos featured shadows and gray sky. This last batch of photos is to assure you that, at least a few times, we did actually see the stone, bay, and sky bathed in bright, warm sunlight.

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Abbey ruins – Donegal

These ruins and the interspersed graves were so compelling that I just couldn’t stop taking photographs.

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Abbey ruins – Donegal

One of the most beautiful places I have ever had the privilege to be is the Abbey Cemetery and ruins in Donegal, Ireland. The ruins were once a Franciscan Friary, founded in the late 15th century, that was destroyed in the early 1600s. When we visited Donegal, the edge of the ruins could be seen from our hotel room. I wandered there during our free evening and returned the next morning at sunrise to get a few more photographs before we moved on. It will probably take me a few posts to show you the quiet beauty of the ruins, aside from any of the individual interesting tombstones I managed to capture.

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The cemetery and ruins jut into the bay on a rough section of ground. There are paved paths, but the land is rough and uneven. Like so many of these cemeteries in Ireland, the tombstones date from long after the abbey fell into disuse.

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Despite the houses that can be seen further around the bay and the commercial area in walking distance, this is an isolated place.

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St. Columb’s Cathedral

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St. Columb’s Cathedral and churchyard abut the walls of Derry, and I managed to steal a few minutes and walk through during our tour of the Derry walls. I only got to take around 20 photographs.

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St. Nicholas’ Collegiate Church

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While walking the streets of Galway, Ireland, I was able to find this church with its small adjoining churchyard. Monuments and gravestones are packed in the church’s back and side yards.

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Irish cemeteries and churchyards

When I am driving and we pass a cemetery, my husband and friends will tease me about pulling over to take cemetery photos.  I admit, it’s something I have been known to do if we are not on a schedule.  I was paging through my old photos and I discovered a number of photos from my last trip to Ireland that were taken from the bus windows as we sped by cemeteries and churchyards. I can’t tell you specifically where most of these are, but they demonstrate the lovely scenery we were able to experience.

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Mumma Cemetery at Antietam

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In the middle of the Antietam National Battlefield, you come upon a cemetery.

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In 1862, Samuel and Elizabeth Mumma resided on 150 acres of this land, including the cemetery, with their ten children. By the time of the battle, the cemetery had existed for more than 60 years. Prior to the Mummas, the Orndorff family owned this farm, and Major Christian Orndorff was interred in the cemetery in 1797. The Mummas acquired the property in 1811.

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As troops approached Sharpsburg, the Mumma family fled their farm and took shelter at a nearby church. When they returned after the battle, they discovered that Confederates had burned their farmhouse to prevent it from being used by Union sharpshooters.

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In the 1870s, the family deeded the land to allow burials of other community members, particularly congregants from nearby Dunker Church – itself constructed on land donated by the family prior to the war.

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St. Augustine’s Church, Derry/Londonderry

The gates of St. Augustine’s Churchyard were locked, so I wasn’t able to walk around inside, but I had to take a photo of the churchyard.

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I have a bit of a reputation

I started this blog three years ago this month, and in that time, I think it’s safe to say that I have established a reputation for my interest in cemeteries. It meant that while we were in Ireland, a number of people saw me in cemeteries, camera in hand, and commented with some variation on “I expected to find you here.” Anytime we passed a cemetery, no matter how far in the distance, I was immediately informed. So here are some of the shots of cemeteries as we made our way across Ireland.

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Cong Abbey, Cong, Republic of Ireland

If you’ve never been to Ireland, you’ve probably never heard of the town of Cong, unless, of course, you are a film buff. Cong’s main claim to fame is that many of the outdoor scenes in John Wayne’s The Quiet Man were filmed there. There is even a gift shop dedicated to the film. The photo above is Ashford Castle, which is now a lovely hotel in Cong. Below is what I was more excited about than the movie: a ruined abbey with a cemetery.

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