Old Graveyard., Church of St. Peter and St. Paul., Foreglen Road, Dungiven, Co Londonderry

Old Graveyard, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

This graveyard at Foreglen Road, Dungiven, marks the site of a former Roman Catholic church and is maintained in reasonable condition. The Church of Saints Peter and Paul was erected in 1826 by subscription at a cost of 120 pounds. According to the Ordnance Survey Memoirs, the building measured 48 by 21 feet and followed the same plan as the similar church at Gortnahey More, though somewhat smaller in scale. It contained no pews and could accommodate approximately 160 persons. The church was extended in the later 19th century and had stabling accommodation added on the west and south sides. The building was demolished in 1924 by contractor Charles Colgan.

Today, little physical evidence of the church wallsteads remains. A short length of low stone wall runs parallel to the former road line, positioned some 7 metres from it. It is conjectured that the building's long axis ran parallel to the road, and one of the monuments on the site may mark the position of the altar, which may have been located on the long wall.

The graveyard itself contains numerous headstones, table slabs, and broken monuments. Access is provided by a pair of gates set in square piers, with ramped and stepped access flanked by random rubble walls. The graveyard is bounded by a wall on the car park side (the former road has been converted to car park), with ditches and ledges forming the other boundaries. The grounds are grass-covered and regularly mown.

Three Maltese crosses stand within the graveyard—two either side of the entrance ramp and one near the short length of wall. These may originate from the former gables of the church, as the Ordnance Survey Memoirs reference Maltese crosses on the gables.

A notable memorial commemorates three priests native to the Ballymoney and Muldonagh area. It consists of white marble slabs in the profile of a jar with inscribed names, surrounded by concrete with a simple cross on top. The priests were Patrick McFeely (1800–63), Dionysius McFeely (1820–62), and Michael McGill (1816–57).

In the field immediately south of the graveyard stands a standing stone of irregular shape, approximately 1.5 metres high and nearly pointed at its top. Nearby is a reputed well that once served as a water source for a pre-National School in the vicinity.