Aug
02
2023
Conservation works at St. George's church, Mitchelstown, Co. Cork in 2022
This church and graveyard are in the townland of Brigown, in the civil parish of Mitchelstown and in the barony of Fermoy.
It is located on the southern end of George’s street in Mitchelstown, at the junction where George’s street meets Church Street. It is an integral feature of the early 19th century planned town.
The church is the former Church Of Ireland Parish Church of Mitchelstown. It was built in 1801, commissioned by Lady Caroline and later rebuilt in 1830 in a neo-Gothic style. It is H-plan in design, featuring stained-glass windows, timber sash windows, an organ and an elegent tower and spire. The church closed in 2016 and it was deconsecrated in August 2017.
The adjoining graveyard has memorials dating from the early 19th century, including some cut limestone table tombs.
A total of 140 memorials were recorded.
Surnames include Clarke, Percy, Black, Thornhill, Stawell, Montgomery, Smith, Bury, James and Hatton.
Interesting Facts
An earlier medieval church was abandoned and demolished when this church was built. The date of the earlier church is unclear, but it most likely dates to before the Reformation of the 1540s.
One of the earliest memorials in the graveyard is that of Margaret Jessop (nee Raymond). It is a flat rectangular slab erected by her daughter to mark her death June 28th 1805, aged 42.
The church has been recently become a remarkable cultural heritage centre (https://www.saintgeorgesmitown.com/).
This post was researched and written as part of a grassroots heritage tourism project (www.incultum.eu). The stories were initially gathered during community survey of the graveyard. They form part of the Historic Graves Project Destination for Ballyhoura (https://historicgraves.com/destination/ballyhoura).
