placenamesLurgan
An Lorgain
The old churchyard preserves evidence of burial and the later reuse of a medieval church site.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- An Lorgain · Irish · main form
- Lurgan · English · main form
Place & story
A churchyard on a drumlin slope
Lurgan’s old parish church stands within a raised burial ground on the north-east-facing slope of a drumlin. Michael Moore’s 2020 archaeological record describes a roughly D-shaped enclosure, about fifty metres across, with masonry walls retaining the mound. The headstones recorded there range in date from 1725 to 1967. These dates belong to surviving memorials, rather than establishing when burial first began. [2]
Masonry put to other uses
A shaped doorjamb from the church was reused as a grave marker. A different adaptation survives at the church’s north-western end, where a mausoleum was incorporated into the building. Moore’s separate 2023 record notes a surviving portion of its barrel vault and a damaged window opening. The remains show how burial structures occupied part of the older church. [2] [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Lurgan. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Lurgan graveyard, CV039-067001: record compiled 2020 · Michael Moore, National Monuments Service
- Lurgan mausoleum, CV039-067002: record compiled 2023 · Michael Moore, National Monuments Service
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2017-12-01. How this page was prepared.