Dolla Graveyard
Dolla Village
The village of Dolla is situated in North Co Tipperary, eight kilometres south of Nenagh at the crossroads where the R497 and R499 meet, at the foot of the Silvermines hills.
Dolla is a small rural village in a picturesque setting. The area has a quiet, community-oriented character, with scattered housing, farms and village homes. The surrounding countryside offers walking, cycling and access towards the Silvermines Mountains, with GAA and other clubs forming an important part of local community life.
At the centre of the village is the Eagles Nest, which serves as the Post Office, grocery store, petrol station and Public House. It is owned and has been run by the Ryan-Lacken for many years.
Close to the village, the entrance gateway to Kilboy House is an impressive landmark dating back to the eighteenth century. It was built around 1780 for Henry Prittie MP, later the first Baron Dunalley. It was burned down in August 1922 during the Civil War. The rebuilt version lost a storey in the 1950s when funds ran out and then a fire in 2005 gutted much of the work. However, the house was reconstructed again to the original three-storey design and remains privately owned.
Kilboy church (TN026-061001) is probably of fifteenth-century origin, built on the site of an earlier Romanesque church dating from the late twelfth or early thirteenth century. It still boasts a fine east window. Excavations conducted in 1988 by Professor E. Rynne have revealed the historical layers of the site, highlighting its long-standing religious and community importance.
Dolla Graveyard itself is a historic burial site surrounding the ruins of the church. The site is notable for its preservation of memorials and inscriptions, the earliest remaining of which dates back to 1763. The graveyard reflects centuries of local history, serving as the final resting place for both Catholic and Protestant families in the area. It also contains memorials of the Prittie family, who held the titles of Barons Dunally, and several family members are buried there. The site provides insight into local architecture, burial practices, and the social history of the region, offering both a tangible connection to the past and a resource for genealogical and historical research. The graveyard is part of Ireland’s broader effort to preserve historic burial sites and visitors can explore the ruins and memorials.
A survey carried out in 1982 identified 51 inscribed headstones. The latest count is 96 with a further 55 graves without inscription. Each grave is given an official registered number in the format TN-KLBY-****:
TN = Tipperary North
KLBY = Kilboy
In the pages that follow is an alphabetical index of the names of those laid to rest in the graveyard and a numerical index of the graves by registered serial number.
Sources:
https://historicgraves.com
https://tipperary.com
https://tipperarystudies.ie
https://silvermineshistoricalsociety.com
https://www.ciamaltha.net
https://facebook.com/TourismTipperary
Gravestone Inscriptions County Tipperary Section B, Volume 4, 1982
https://en.wikipedia.org
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