Mooney. ] 290 [Oct. 19, 
The people hav a strong attachment to family cemeteries, and a horror 
of burial at the hands of the stranger. The sustaining hope of the poor 
man in his affliction, and the constant wish of the emigrant in his exile, is 
that he may die at home and lay his bones among his own people. The 
friends always try to carry out the wishes of the deceasd in this regard 
whenever possible, even though the cemetery designated should be at a con- 
siderable distance from the place of his death. There ar several curious 
beliefs on this subject, and stories ar told of persons who, having died in 
foreign lands, wer brought home for burial by the fairies attachd to the 
family. Should a corpse be buried with those of another family, the souls 
wil quarrel—a belief which seems to hav been held also by the Indian 
tribes of the Gulf States*—and if the cemetery be not selected in accord- 
ance with the wishes of the deceasd, the corpse wil take up its coffin and 
remove to another. There is also an idea, which is brought out in several 
old stories, that the soul of an unburied corpse must wander about and 
find no rest until the day of judgment. 
The Kerry fishermen of Ballyheigh hav a legend of a ruind church 
which is sometimes visible below the waters of the bay. It marks the site 
of the ancient cemetery of the Cantillons, which was overwhelmd years 
ago by an encroachment of the sea. From that time, whenever a death 
occurd in the family, the body, in its coffin, was brought down to the sca- 
shore at night and left where the tide could reach it. In the morning it 
had disappeard, and it was known that the fairies had taken it away for 
burial in the churchyard under the sea. The spel was finally broken 
through the curiosity of a man who attempted to watch the spirits while 
at work. As soon as they discoverd him they abandond the coffin and 
disappeard forever. +} 
There ar several ancient cemeteries which ar regarded as peculiarly 
sacred, and to which the dead ar sometimes brought from long distances 
for interment. Chief among these ar Saint Kevin’s cemetery at Glen- 
dalough, in Wicklow. It is said that owing to the prayers of the saint, any 
one buried here is sure to be saved at the day of judgment. Another is 
at the ruins of Saint Senan’s church on Holy island, near the mouth of 
the Shannon, where, according to popular belief, 
No hel wil after death torment 
True Christians who ar buried in’t. 
It is accounted a sacrilege to disturb or pluck up any plants growing in 
a churchyard, and as a consequence the cemeteries ar overgrown with 
grass and weeds, excepting in the cities, where modern ideas ar bringing 
about a change. In the middle of a fertil field near Duncannon fort, in 
Wexford, is a small area overgrown with briers and furz, which has lain 
thus undisturbd for centuries, from a tradition—which seems to refer to 
a siege of the fort by Cromwell’s forces in 1649—that here were buried 
* James Adair, Hist. Am. Inds., 183, 1775. 
+Legendsand Fairy Tales of Ireland, 282, Haverty, publisher, New York, 1882. 
