Unlocking silent heritage
About the Project
Unlocking Silent Heritage (USH) seeks to uncover valuable community heritage ‘buried’ for generations.
Unlocking Silent Heritage is a project supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) and will run until March 2027. USH is a cross-community engagement programme designed to complement a DCSDC capital-led project, which seeks to enhance awareness of, and access to six historic cemeteries across the district: Enagh, Glendermott, Urney, Corrick, Pubble and Scarvagherin – developing their use as shared spaces.
USH provides opportunities for site tours/visits and hands-on engagement using the heritage of these local sites as a vehicle for promoting community research, genealogy, learning and skills development. Derry City Cemetery & Strabane Cemetery will also feature as part of the site tour and engagement programme. Unlocking Silent Heritage is coordinated by Creggan Enterprises in partnership with Friends of Derry City Cemetery, Guildhall Press and Hive Studios and is funded through Derry City and Strabane District Council’s PEACEPLUS Local Co-Designed Action Plan (under the Community Regeneration and Transformation theme).
Cemetery Sites
01.
Lough Enagh
On the tranquil banks of Enagh Lough northeast of Derry lie the ruins of Enagh Church, its east gable wall still standing as a striking reminder of early Irish ecclesiastical architecture. The site is traditionally linked to St. Canice (Cainnech), born near Dungiven in 527, who became one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland and a close companion of St. Colmcille. Canice travelled widely – from Clonard to Wales and even to Scotland, where he is remembered in place names like Inchkenneth and Cambuskenneth. The Enagh site offers not just a burial ground, but a glimpse into the life of a saint who shaped early Irish Christianity across Ireland and Scotland.
02.
Old Glendermott
Old Glendermott Cemetery, in the Burngibbagh valley, is one of Derry’s most historically significant burial grounds. Known as the Apprentice Boys Cemetery, it holds the graves of Colonel Adam Murray and Colonel John Mitchelburn, two celebrated defenders of the city during the Siege of Derry (1689). The site once held a pre-Reformation parish church, later rebuilt by the London Goldsmiths’ Company, but both church buildings were eventually lost, leaving only the graveyard. Its oldest stones date to the 1600s and include evocative carvings such as skull-and-crossbones motifs, linking the site to some of the city’s earliest recorded burials. For visitors, Old Glendermott is both a memorial to the city’s turbulent past and a resting place for some of its most legendary figures.
03.
Old Urney
Located just outside Strabane, Old Urney is a hauntingly beautiful graveyard surrounding the roofless ruins of Christ Church. The site may have begun as an 8th-century monastery linked to St. Samthain of Clonbroney, making it one of the area’s earliest religious foundations. Burials here date back at least to the early 1600s, with gravestones commemorating generations of families – Adams, Baird, Anderson, Blair, Elliott, and more – often listing detailed family relationships. The ruin’s crumbling stone walls, now open to the sky, make it a picturesque site for reflection and local heritage exploration. Despite its neglected state and lack of formal records, Old Urney remains a meaningful destination for family historians and anyone tracing the spiritual and social roots of the Finn Valley.
04.
Corrick Abbey
Hidden at the end of a winding country lane in Upper Badoney, Corrick Abbey is a rare survival of a 15th-century Franciscan friary, now a serene and overgrown graveyard. The east wall with its ivy-clad gothic window still rises above the ruins, while fragments of the north, south, and west walls mark the friary’s footprint. Local tradition suggests Christian worship took place here as early as the 6th century, making it a place of devotion for over 1,400 years. Among the graves are Hamilton family headstones and a mix of simple markers, obelisks, and iron-railed plots – some graves even lie within the ruined church itself. The site’s riverside setting, known as “the meeting of the waters,” and its rich layers of history create a uniquely atmospheric and reflective space.
05.
Pubble Graveyard
Pubble Graveyard, a small stone-walled enclosure north of Newtownstewart, marks the site of a former Franciscan friary dating back to the mid-15th century. Though no visible remains of the friary survive, the graveyard – roughly 31m by 21m – contains a handful of memorials dating to the 1700s and beyond, with many stones now worn smooth by time. Its name comes from the Irish pobal, meaning “people” or “community,” reflecting its role as a sacred gathering place for centuries. Despite its modest size, the site is rich in local lore, with records of 19th-century residents and deaths that hint at generations of community life. Its quiet setting beside the bypass makes it a little-known yet deeply evocative link to Tyrone’s religious past.
06.
Scarvagherin Friary
Scarvagherin, perched on a hill overlooking the River Derg east of Spamount, is the atmospheric site of a 15th-century Franciscan friary. Founded around 1456 as Scairb-an-ciothrainn and dissolved in 1603 during the Reformation, the friary once served as a centre of worship and burial for the surrounding parish. Today, a section of the north wall still stands, and the graveyard’s enclosing walls echo the footprint of the medieval church. Following the friary’s dissolution, Scarvagherin continued as a rural cemetery, used by local families from the late 1700s through the 20th century. The weathered headstones bear the names of generations – Patton, Young, Love, Henderson, Andrews, and others – offering a cross-section of local history.
Project Impact / Feeback
Heart for Heritage – Project Participant
Really insteresting and enjoyable project, we had some excellent heirtage tours of some of our more forgotten local cemeteries, the history literally burried beneath our feet is amazing.
Tours & Talks Project Participant
Derry & Strabane Cemeteries have truly fascinating and rich histories and stories. I am interested in tracing my family tree and this has been a brilliant project to take part in.
Project Funders / Partners
