DONAGHCLONEY GRAVEYARD

 

The old graveyard is on a mound above the River Lagan. The once circular nature of the cemetery has been damaged to an extent by the realignment of the road. Its origin as a reasonably large ringfort, forming a strong defensive position a little distance from the river bank, can still clearly seen.

The name and the local tradition suggests that the first church on the site was founded by St Patrick himself with the church being mentioned in records dated 1306, 1422 and 1546. There was a church building here during the 1641 rising but it fell into a ruin by 1679. William Waring who owned the land at the time, decided to build a new church at Waringstown, which he completed by 1681.