Aghadoe facts for kids
Aghadoe (Irish: Achadh an Dá Eo) is a large townland overlooking the town and lakes of Killarney in Ireland. Officially it is also a parish, although the parish is larger than the area normally associated with the name. The area is famous for its views of the lakes and islands, including Innisfallen Island. The ruins of 13th century Parkavonear Castle and of "Aghadoe Cathedral," an old Romanesque church in ruins, make the spot popular with tourists and archaeologists.
During the Irish Famine (1845-1852), the abbey or church of Aghadoe's churchyard was the designated burial site for Famine and fever victims. London editor Charles MacKay traveled to Killarney in the summer of 1849 and notes that the churchyard itself was small (less than one acre), with a corner reserved for burials from Killarney's workhouse. It was "one of three where paupers are interred" (Mackay, "Forty Years Recollections" 2:90). Over the past three years (1846-1849), Mackay estimates that close to 2,000 Famine victims were buried at Aghadoe. They have "all [been] interred in one very small corner" of the cemetery. The "first glance shows the traveller in the midst of what a Golgotha he stands. In the wretched corner set apart for the paupers the earth is covered with deal planks and fresh remnants of coffins in shocking profusion" (ibid.). Mackay continues with a horrifying and tragic description of the scene at Aghadoe in July of 1849 (ibid., pp. 2:90-95).
Aghadoe takes its name from Achadh an Dá Eo, which is Irish for "The place of the two yew trees". (It was traditional for church yards to have only one yew tree).
Images for kids
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Aghadoe Cathedral from the northwest in 2010
