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Gertrude Southwell Pigott

LimerickKilfinny (Limerick)

Hello!
I am traveling to Ireland in June from the U.S. and would love to find out where my ancestors are buried. One of my ancestors Gertrude Southwell Pigott was born at the Castle Matrix in about 1665. She died in Kilfinny, 28 May 1683, and was buried in Ballinakill Church. Does anyone know if Ballinakill church still stands, and what the address is? Are there any online resources for that church?

I also learned that in 1716 years after Gertrude's death her husband John asked their son Southwell to erect, in Kilfinny Church, a marble memorial to his late wife and Southwell's mother. I'm not certain if the memorial was in Ballinakill church or a different church. How many churches are in Kilfinny? Thanks for any help you can give!

IrelandXO member

5 replies

Kilfinny is the name of the civil and Church of Ireland parish and one of the townlands included in the parish is named Ballinakill/Ballynakill. The c1840 OSI maps show an old graveyard and ruins of an old church in this townland located just east of Ballinakill house - see : Kilfinny Church & Graveyard. The address would be the name of the townland - a postal address would probably be Ballinakill, Kilfinny - the two nearest large towns are Rathkeale and Croom.

The parish is quite small, just 7 townlands and I didn't see any other graveyards or old Churches, other than a Catholic chapel which is likely built well after the dates you have.

There doesn't appear to be much left of the church, Google Street view shows what looks like some headstones and possibly part of one wall of the church - see Ballinakill 

The parish is listed as Kilfenny in Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of 1837, and this mentions a Pigot family and the memorial - '.... There are some remains of the old church, in which is a tablet to the Pigot family; and near it are the remains of Ballynakill House, which, having been converted into a barrack, was burnt by the Rockites in 1822....'

Griffith's Primary valuation, dated 1852 for this area, shows a John Pigot as immediate lessor of a number of the properties in Ballinakill townland - see : Ballinakill (AskAboutIreland.ie) Click on the 'Original Page' icon to view the full details.

I'm not located nearby so cannot check, but hopefully someone a little closer will reply who knows more about the old church or graveyard.

shanew147IrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Angela Greetings from New Zealand. I visited this cemetery last August as there was a family function in Kilfinny. The village is very small and only has a Catholic Church, School and Pub but perhaps someone at the school would go to the cemetery which is called Ballinakill to look for your ancestors headstones. I took a photo of the graves inside the church ruin but sadly the names are not visible in my photo. There are many graves surrounding the church ruin. The photos are; 1. The photo of the bicycle leans against the signpost to the cemetery. this is in the middle of the Kilfinny village very close to the Kilfinny National school. 2. A photo taken inside the church ruin. 3. A photo taken outside the church ruin.
I hope you have some success as I know how excited I was to be there in the very place my great grandfather had left from to come to New Zealand. I have been unable to find how long my Hannon/ Hannan family have lived in this area as the family still there didn't have any interest in this. Kind regards Heather Maloney

 

 

 

 

 

IrelandXO member

Thank you shanew147 and heatherlea for your quick replies! I'm feeling more confident about finding the cemetery now with the information you've shared. 

 

IrelandXO member

here's a Google Map route to the graveyard from the town of Adare, which is on the main road from Limerick to Tralee

shanew147IrelandXO Volunteer

That google map route is very helpful, I appreciate you taking the time to help me out!

IrelandXO member

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