Lynastown Burial Ground, Moyraverty

 

When William Lynas, one of the founding members of the Religious Society of Friends in Lurgan, died in 1658 Quaker principles precluded his burial by a priest in the parish graveyard. He was therefore buried in a small plot belonging to his son Thomas and it was this small plot which developed into Lynastown Burial Ground. In 1673 the ground was transferred to Francis Robson of Tamnificarbet and William Porter of Lurgan, both prominent Quakers involved in the linen industry.

Gravestones were at first prohibited in Quaker Burial Grounds by a minute of the London yearly meeting in 1717. It was not until 1850 that it was decided that plain headstones in a standard design were consistent with Quaker principles. There are five headstones in Lynastown graveyard, including that of James Green who worked to determine the level of need which existed in Co. Armagh during the Great Famine of 1845 to 1850.

The 200th and final burial at Lynastown was that of William John Williamson in 1967.