Aghanloo Old graveyard

Situated about two miles outside of Limavady, Aghanloo Old Graveyard resides in the townland of Rathfad. It sits on a raised hill on a bend in the road overlooking the main road to Magilligan (OS reference C679279). Aghanloo New graveyard can be found at Aghanloo Church of Ireland in the parish of Drumbane, which was built in 1826.

Aghanloo Church of Ireland, Drumbane, Aghanloo
There are many old headstones in this cemetery but many are indecipherable

On a recent visit I copied some of the older headstones that were still legible such as that for the Henry family of Dirtagh, Aghanloo.

Henry of Dirtagh headstone
HENRY: Erected to the memory of John Henry, Dirtagh, who died June 4 1861 aged 84 years. Also his wife Rachel who died July 18 1862 aged 70 years. Also their son William Henry who died March 20 1891 aged 61 years.

I believe that this Henry family resided on a farm of about 44 acres in Dirtagh that they called Flowerfield. John Henry's wife was Rachel McMillan and they had 12 children eleven of who emigrated to the USA between 1836 and 1860. William remained on the family farm with his parents.

A History of the family was published in 1926 entitled 'The History of the Henry Family of Flower Hill, Ireland' by Margaret Birdenia (main author) and Mattie Miller (added author). Printed Los Angeles, California, 1926.

A portion of the diary of Margaret Birdenia Henry is reproduced in this book and mentions a visit to Aghanloo graveyard to see the engraver put the name of recently deceased William Henry on the family headstone:

1891: June 24th. This morning we drove to Aghanloo burying ground in a Jaunting car to see the engraver put Uncle William's name and inscription on the Henry monument. A nice stone is erected for Grandfather, Grandmother and Uncle William (page 17 Henry Family of Flower Hill).

I have references for two other families who were known to use this graveyard for burials but no stone now exists to confirm their existence:


HILLHOUSE OF FREEHALL

The Hillhouse family of Aghanloo were landlords of a small estate called Freehall, which was subsumed into the McCausland estate through marriage in the mid eighteeenth century. The Hillhouse family Bible noted the following deaths:

"My mother, Rachel Hillhouse died January 7, 1716 and is buried in our burial place in the church of Arclow. My father, John Hillhouse died Tuesday, July 31, 1716 and was buried in the church of Arclow 

Arclow is of course Aghanloo. I am fairly certain that the Hillhouse family were of sufficient means to erect a headstone in the graveyard. It does seem likely that one of the headstones that is now indecipherable belonged to this important local family. I have written a short paper on the Hillhouse family of Aghanloo, which is available to read on the link below. The family had origins in Irvine, Ayrshire in Scotland.

http://forrestresearchservices.com/files/Hillhouse.pdf

O'BRIEN OF AGHANLOO

 Another family that used Aghanloo Old graveyard according to family tradition was the O'Brien family. The following information was gleaned from a short history of the family who emigrated to Nova Scotia.
O'Brien of Aghanloo genealogy

https://www.irelandxo.com/sites/default/files/Noel%20and%20the%20Genealogy%20of%20the%20O%27Briens%2C%20reduced%20file%20size.pdf















Comments

  1. Unknown13 June 2020 at 13:04

    Looking for the graves of the Fleming family of Aghanloo. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  2. MAP21 August 2023 at 19:03

    I was in this area earlier this year, but was unable to find the Aghanloo Old Graveyard. I'm looking for old markers for the 'Patton' family of Crindle, Myroe, Aghanloo area. Is it possible to obtain Longitude and Latitude coordinates? Are there people who would be willing to look and take photographs of the markers like the author of this blog entry? Any additional information would be very helpful in my research.
    Kind regards,
    Mark A Patton
    USA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bobby Forrest BA (Hons) QUB Economic and Social History22 August 2023 at 03:18

      The graveyard is close to Aghanloo Church of Ireland but a little bit further down the Magilligan road on the opposite side of the church (on a bend).

      Many of the old headstones are covered, buried or difficult to read with the passage of time -

      There are 4 Patton headstones in the graveyard but I am not sure if they are readable - and as I no longer live in Limavady it is not possible for me to photograph them for you

      You can contact me on forrestgen@gmail.com if you want a transcription of the Patton headstones

      Bobby
      Coordinates Aghanloo Old: 55.09351, -6.93671

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hearth Money Rolls 1660s

Image
The hearth tax was the first of a new wave of taxes brought in shortly after the restoration of King Charles II in 1662 and continued for 27 years until 1689. Collected twice yearly at Michelmas (29th September) and Ladys Day (25th March) copies of the returns of payments were sent to the exchequer and to the local Quarter Sessions.   The first Hearth Money Act was passed in the Irish Parliament in 1662. It provided that 2 shillings should be paid on every hearth or ‘other place used for firing’.  Arranged by county, parish and, usually, townland, the Hearth Money Rolls list the names of householders who were liable to pay tax at the rate of two shillings on every hearth or fireplace they had. Some people were exempt from the tax and, of course, others managed to evade paying it.T he lists are not a complete record of every householder in a townland. Those exempt included p ersons living on alms, or persons not able to work, or persons who had a house or lands worth less than eight pou
Read more

The Siege of Derry 1688-1689

Image
The Siege of Derry/Londonderry The walls of Derry were completed by 1619, eight metres high and nine metres wide and 1.5 km in circumference. By the time of the siege the population inside the walls was estimated as 2500. Four gates allowed access to traffic going in and out of the city. The river Foyle came up close to the walls on the waterside an effective barrier from attack. he Siege of Derry was the first major event of the Williamite Wars in Ireland. The Gates of Derry were initially closed in December 1688 by 13 apprentice boys who seized the keys and locked the gates upon the approach of the Earl of Antrim's forces. The real action did not begin until April 1869 when the Jacobite forces arrived in substantial numbers. It is estimated that during the siege the population inside the walls swelled to over 30,000 people. Over 7000 of these were troops and the rest civilians who had fled to the safety of the walled city. The Jacobite force was estimated at some 15,000 and
Read more

Limavady street names from the past

Image
LIMAVADY STREET NAMES FROM THE PAST: Limavady was known as Newtownlimavady until 1870 when the council decided to officially shorten the name.  The new town of Limavady was a plantation settlement built by the servitor Sit Thomas Phillips who was given a large estate in the Roe valley in 1610. Phillips had settled at the old O'Cahan stronghold at Limavady on the banks of the River Roe. He decided to build a new plantation town a mile further downstream, which he called Newtowne. Raven's map of 1622 shows  'Sir Thomas Phillips buildinge at Newtowne, a mile from Limna Vadde, a village of 18 small houses, at a cross roads, with a stone cross at the centre''.  Up until the time of the famine Limavady remained a relatively small town with essentially four main streets. The town grew substantially with the post-famine influx and as a result new houses and streets were constructed to meet the growing demand. New streets and new names came into existence. Thi
Read more