In the grounds of Shankill Castle there are the ruins of an old church and graveyard. This church would be quite old as it is shown in ruins on the Ordnance Survey maps of Ireland from the 1830s-1840s period.
Towards the end of the 19th century an organization called the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead was formed in Ireland. Members of this group spent their spare time visiting graveyards and transcribing the information on headstones, vaults and tombs. Many of these graveyards are in a total state of disrepair today and that makes the journal published by the association very valuable.
In the journal for the year 1900, a Mr. C.J. Hobson writes about how he visited this church and graveyard and transcribed what he could.[1]The relevant genealogical information from his transcriptions are reproduced below.
Elizabeth Ayleward, alias Butler, died 21 October 1708. She had two daughters. Monument erected by her husband Peter Aylward in 1719.
John Gorges Hely Mulhallen of Malcolmville, Carlow died 1 April 1860 age 66. Erected by Frances.
Mary Cody, alias Purcell, died 31 February 1782, age 51 years.
Dennis Ryan, died 9 May 1800, age 70 years.
Erected by Michael Cooke in the memory of his father Thomas Cooke, late of Kellymount, died 16 December 1801, age 70 years. Headstone carved by John Brennan, stone-cutter, Royal Oak
Gregory Murphy, died 29 April 1768, age 21 years.
Michael Murphy, died 26 January 1771, age 60 years. Erected by his son Michael. Also, son Joseph died 26 December 1787, age 45 years.
[1] Hobson, C.J. 1900. Shankill or St. Kill Parish in Journal of the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead. Vol.4 No.3 Part 1, pp.432-434.
