Nicker Church and Cemetery

Pallasgreen or Pallasgrean (Irish: Pailís Ghréine, meaning "stockade of Grian") is a village in East County Limerick, situated on the Limerick–Tipperary N24 road. The name means "the Stockade of Grian," referring to an ancient Irish Goddess of Love, whose is associated with the a nearby hill of Nicker. Wikipedia

As mentioned in an earlier post, our new friend, Bill, directed us to the Church located on Nicker Hill. The geology of the hill is interesting in itself, and a grotto was dug into the hillside.  After the gothic churches I had become so familiar with in Germany and in the cities of Ireland, I was initially surprised by its overall simplicity.

Near the grotto and to one side of the church yard were the graves of several priests who had served this church.  The church was not open, but we were able to get in the vestibule and see that parts of it were undergoing restoration.  A couple of men working on the landscape told us that the church had a new pastor, and he encouraged them to really work on fixing up the church, its surroundings, and the cemetery located a couple of miles away in Old Pallas.

Right across the street was a field with very pastoral views of the surrounding countryside. It really was very rural.

We followed the directions given to us to find the old cemetery in Old Pallas.  One of the things I found most interesting was that most of what we would call grave markers, appeared to be memorial markers instead.  A marker would be engraved with the names of several family members and often more than one generation.  They would say that they were erected "In Memory Of..." The parishioners told us that until the new pastor arrived, the cemetery had become quite overgrown.


It was clear that the cemetery had originally been placed alongside a church that was now in ruins.

Many of the grave markers were dedicated to Ryans and Dwyers. I got really excited when I saw a grave marker that listed Matthew Ryan, father of Jeremiah.  "Our" Matthew allegedly died in 1855 and I believe he had a son named Jeremiah.  Upon closer examination, I noticed that this Matthew died in 1955.  I'm sure they were all related, as all of the Ryans and Dwyers in the area were "cousins".

                                                                It reads:  Erected by
                                                                JEREMIAH RYAN
                                                                       Ballyludgy
                                                              In memory of his father
                                                               MATTHEW RYAN
                                                             son of DARBY RYAN
                                                               and MARY KELLY

I love old cemeteries -- just ask my sister, Karen, and my niece, Julie.  If you want to see more of the grave markers, click on this link to the Pallasgreen Photoshow.  You can pause on the grave markers and watch them 'til your heart is content.  Pallasgreen, County Limerick

The Irish Homeland

"Bill" a local, and Kathy, discussing "Ryans" outside of Chasers Pub

Two months ago Bill and I had the opportunity to travel to Ireland and Scotland. One of the items on my bucket list was to visit the town of Pallas Grean (also commonly spelled Pallas Green), the hometown of my Ryan ancestors. Pallas Green (and you should see the Gaelic spelling) is located in County Limerick, right on the border with County Tipperary.

Earlier in this blog (see posts dated March 29th and 30th) I posted pictures of what Pallas Green looked like in 1920 -- right after the Republic of Ireland became separated from Great Britain. Now it is a modern-day town located on a newly-paved main thoroughfare paid for partially with European Union funds. Talk to anyone who went to Ireland 10 years ago and who returned again recently and you will always here about the improved roads. Some are so recent that the GPS we rented did not acknowledge the new roads.

In the United States we describe small towns as places with one traffic light. In Ireland the traffic lights are replaced with "roundabouts". Pallas Green is such a small village that there is not even a roundabout in the town center. However, we counted three pubs at one intersection.















Records indicate that our "Ryan" married a "Dwyer" or O'Dwyer. Interestingly, the pub that is on the opposite corner from Chasers is O'Dwyers.

Here Bill asks for a "second opinion" from another local. Both assured me that if we didn't know the "nickname" of our Ryans, we would not have a very fruitful search. I had to be content with the work completed for me by a County Limerick genealogist. At least Bill could give us directions to the church and cemetery.


I put together a three-minute photoshow that contains these and pictures of the nearby church and cemetery that serves the area of Pallas Green. They are labeled. Click on this link to view: Pallas Green The church and cemetery will be discussed in the next post.