The Church Ruin is located at the highest point in the village. This ruin dates back to the early 1700s where the church was built and later abandoned in 1812 or thereabouts. An older church was located to the left of the present-day ruin as noted by T.J. Westropp who commented that the Molony vault (the earliest vault in the graveyard at 1702) was built at the altar end of the old church. The old church (predating the church ruin) was dedicated to the Twelve Apostles. The present Church Ruin was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The present-day Church ruin was preserved by a local committee in 2006 through a Heritage Council grant. There is a fine view at the church ruin of the surrounding countryside and the ruin falls in direct line between the Tuamgraney monastic seettlement and the Tomfinlough settlement which alludes to its importance as a monastic settlement during St. Mochulla's time (7th century). The church ruin houses a number of commemorative monuments to the local gentry and in particular to the O'Callaghan families at either side of the altar as well as the Hartes, MacMahons, Molonys, O'Connells, Brownes and Westropps. The graveyard contains more than 800 headstones and is presently being photographed, recorded and transcribed by a local group of volunteers under the Historic Graves project.
This ruin has had a fascinating history to it--as it once was a place of worship for Catholics and later for the Protestant community. The graveyard surrounding it is a mixed graveyard with almost 1,000 headstones contained in 3 sections--the old section which includes the Church Ruin, the Molony vaults and O'Connell vaults and takes in the oldest part of the graveyard to the remnants of the inner wall. The second section is below the wall and to the side of the building between the ruin and the Old Boy's School. The newer section is to the left of the ruin and to the left of the road that separates the old section and the new section. The Parish Pastoral Council recently extended the graveyard to include a new section which is located also to the left but closer to the Fair Green.
The headstones have been photographed and recorded and are all available to view on the Historic Graves website. We would invite any member wishing to transcribe the headstones to please do so following the rules associated with the Historic Graves project website. Many of the headstones include families from not only Tulla, but also from the surrounding areas of East Clare.
References
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community based website that records graveyards | Ireland | VIEW SOURCE |
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