Holy Trinity Church and graveyard in Mount Temple features in new heritage video

Photo: An aerial view of Holy Trinity Church and graveyard, Mount Temple.

Mount Temple Holy Trinity Graveyard Group launched its second series of videos last weekend celebrating the heritage in the townlands of Mount Temple, Baylin and Moydrum areas.

The video entitles 'In the Footsteps of History' centres on the Holy Trinity Church and graveyard which can be found in Mount Temple village. This is the location of the former medieval parish church of Ballyloughloe, an upright portion of which still survives today above ground.

At some later stage, probably in the 18th century, a new second church was constructed some nine metres to the west of the visible portion of the medieval church. This later Church of Ireland church was used for worship until 1955.

People buried in the graveyard are of various denominations such as Church of Ireland, Roman Catholic, and Quakers. The church and graveyard are owned by the Church of Ireland, the Athlone Union of Parishes.

Chairman of Mount Temple Holy Trinity Graveyard Group, Cllr Frankie Keena, paid tribute and sincere thanks to the local community for volunteering their time and expertise to help clean up the graveyard and also for their generous financial contributions to cover ongoing maintenance. It is now accessible for the public to visit and view the headstones.

Last year the group was very fortunate to receive a Creative Ireland grant via Westmeath County Council Arts Officer to create four videos of various heritage sites throughout the locality. On receiving this group engaged the professional services of Bailey & Blake Productions and archaeologist Eoin Sullivan to assist them on this project.

The expertise and knowledge from Bailey & Blake Productions and Gort Archaeology in producing and developing this video was fantastic, Cllr Keena said, thanking Bernie Norris, Genealogy Officer at Dun Na Si Amenity & Heritage Park, who was also a marvellous help and support.

The video has been uploaded on the Mount Temple Baylin Heritage Group’s Facebook page and the group is delighted to note that so far we have reached 11,500 people with 4,400 views within three days, added Cllr Keena.

In conclusion, he thanked all the members of the Mount Temple Holy Trinity Graveyard Group for their ongoing work.