CO-KSNG-0261

This Headstone is reputed to have been erected to mark the burial place of one of  The Abbot's of "The Knights Hospitallers" of Mourne Abbey  who was buried with the full military regalia of the Crusaders.This would date the headstone to the early 1300's when these  Knights  were a powerful force across Europe .Unfortunately the Knights grave in Kilshannig was robbed and valuable gold artefacts etc. stolen. A few artefacts relating to the knights were found in the cemetry over 150 years ago when the headstone was retrieved by Canon Swanzy of Kilshannig and secured against the boundary wall where it can be seen to this day. The Norman landlord John de Cogan signed an agreement with the Bishop of Cloyne in the early 1200's and became a patron of Kilshannig conferring substantial benefits to the church and the de Cogans are also credited with setting up  the Knights  in Mourne Abbey .This connection may explain the presence of the burial place of one of the Abbots in Kilshannig  Graveyard.