Requisicat in Pace

Here, Small Axe unearths those famed individuals who went before us, particularly those whose names demand to be resurrected and shouted out.

The Bracegirdle Family

Friar's Bush Cemetery is Belfast's oldest Christian site. Some historian's believe that the site may have been used in pre-Christian times, or that it was linked to St Patrick.

The earliest connection with a friar appears on a 1570 map of Belfast. Here, the word 'Freestone' (Friarstown) is used to signify three single-storey houses, none apparently a church, at Friar's Bush, with Cromac Wood extending between it and the Castle of Belfast.

By the late 18th Century, Friar's Bush was widely recognised as the Catholic burial ground in Belfast. In 1826, the Marquis of Donegall gave the Catholics an extra acre of ground, so doubling the size of Friar's Bush Cemetery and extending it from the central mound to Stranmillis Road.

A major cholera epidemic struck in 1832-33 and Friar's Bush, in common with the old poorhouse graveyard in Clifton Street was used as a cholera pit. The low, grassy mound close to the entrance is known as 'The Plaguey Hill'.

The twin Bracegirlde graves are located at the edge of the mound. The first was erected by Matthew Bracegirdle of Belfast to the memory of his wife, Margaret, who died on 14 January 1832, aged 40 years. By her side reposes the remains of four of her children, who all died in infancy, doubtless struck down by cholera.

The second gravestone was erected by James Bracegirdle for his grandmother, Susanna Donaldson, who died on 23 March 1847, aged 83 years. Also buried here are his six children: Susanna, 2 years old; Matthew, 7 years old; Jane, 1 year old; William, 12 years old; Jane, 14 days old and William Matthew, 7 years old.

By 1850, there were medical complaints that the graveyard was overcrowded. It was closed in 1869 and replaced by Milltown Cemetery as the main Catholic cemetery.

Saint Donard vs Harriet Augusta Slacke

Maghera Old Church sits on an ancient ecclesiastical site which is connected with the 6th Century St Donard.

St Donard founded a 'nobile monasterium' at the foot of the Mournes. This parish church was named St Dongarde. In the mid 17th Century, Colgan recorded that St Donard's bell and shoes were preserved in Maghera Old Church with great veneration.

This site, like many early Christian sites in Ireland, grew into a centre of trade by the 8th or 9th Century, attracting the attention of Viking raiders.

The nearby round tower was built as a lookout post and centre of retreat, where the monastic and community valuables were stored. These towers, which are unique to Irish monasticism, also acted as belfries and, in an age without maps, as landmarks to the presence of monasteries.

The remains of Harriet Augusta Slack lie in the churchyard. She was the daughter of the late Colonel WR Slacke of the Royal Engineers of Newcastle, Co. Down.

Harriet Augusta died on 10 February 1922. On her stone, is engraved the epitaph: "It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power."

Saint Patrick

The grave of St Patrick is located in Downpatrick.

Patrick came from West Britain, was captured into slavery and delivered to Ireland in 432. Guided by God's voice, he escaped enslavement to embark on many thrilling adventures.

An ardent brainwasher with the superpower of commanding snakes to leave Ireland, Patrick spent much of his time converting the Irish to Christianity. He was very fond of green things, especially shamrocks and green beer.

He died around 493. Some historians believe there were actually two Patricks, who came together to form one person. Other such dual or multiple entities include Penance, Sybil and The Master.

Saint Muiredach O'Heney

Banagher Old Church stands two miles south-west of Dungiven. Here can be found a small structure which contains the remains of the church's founder, St Muiredach O'Heney.

The structure dates from the early 13th Century and resembles a miniature church or house. It is built of carefully dressed stone, with a carved panel on the west gable showing a figure, damaged but probably with a crozier and hand raised in blessing.

The saint's relics were probably stored here and were an important attraction for pilgrims. The lucky Banagher sand is said to have brought success at sporting events such as football and racing and even in legal cases.

The Banagher 'house' is the most sophisticated of a small Ulster group of mortuary houses, extending from Down to Donegal. It is of more than passing interest that similar house-shaped shrines in metalwork had been used as reliquaries in Early Christian Ireland.

Saint Cooey

Cooey was a famous saint from Knockinelder. He founded Temple Cooey in the 7th Century, near Tara Bay in County Down.

Saint Cooey was made Abbot of Movilla Ards and died in 731.

The Church was pillaged by Norse pirates and rebuilt in the 12th Century. A sign close by notes that local gifts of land and labour in 1977 preserve Temple Cooey.

Pilgrims are still attracted to its holy wells and pennance stone. While I was here, a woman was struggling to get a large drum of well water up the hill to her car. Various old people were arranged on seats around the ruins of the old church, shaded by St Brigid's Mantle (see Faughart Hill below).

Faughart Hill

St Brigid, a famous Irish superhero, was born in 451 or 452 in Faughart, near Dundalk in County Louth. She died in 525 in Kildare, of natural causes and was buried in Downpatrick, along with fellow superheroes, St Patrick and St Columbia. In a spooky twist, her head was removed to a Jesuit church in Lisbon, Portugal.

On a visit to Faughart Hill - on which stood the home of St Brigid's father, and the place where her childhood was spent - I discovered St Brigid's Well. Steps lead down to a murky pool of water. Sited next to the well is an example of St Brigid's Mantle - an eerie tree, festooned with all manner of items including children's clothing, religious icons, rosary beads, a supermarket till receipt and old socks.

St Brigid had the superpower of healing. She is said to have healed two dumb girls and a dumb boy, as well as curing leprosy. Thus, according to tradition, people would hang ribbons or handkerchiefs out on trees or clotheslines, believing that if the saint touched it, it would have curative powers.

St Brigid is also famous for making crosses out of rushes. To find out how to make one of her crosses, click here.

Also on Faughart Hill is the grave of Edward Bruce - a Scot who had himself crowned King of Ireland at Dundalk in 1316.

Bruce was killed in battle here on 14 October 1318.

Mussenden Auld

While walking through the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra, I happened across the grave of Mussenden Auld, who departed this life in 1788 aged 57. His daughter, Margaret, is also here. She was only nine months old when she died.

Since this headstone is located in a fake tourist village, in a churchyard next to a church which used to stand in Kilmore, Crossgar, I'm unsure whether or not Mussenden and company actually lie beneath this stone. Perhaps their remains were moved along with the church.

The Widow Fay of Funshog

Monasterboice, near Newgrange, may be famous for its High Crosses and the tallest round tower in Ireland, but these sights pale in comparison to the mighty gravestone erected by the Widow Fay of Funshog, which can be found nearby.

The redoubtable widow sited this memorial for her husband James. Her final resting place remains unknown, although I assume she's probably in Funshog, wherever that may be.