Graveyard, on Drumlough Road, Rathfriland, Newry, BT34 2HR

This is a roughly circular graveyard situated on the east side of Drumlough Road, near Rathfriland, Newry. It is of some local interest and is also a scheduled monument. The graveyard is accessed via two granite steps flanked by lined, cement-rendered square pillars supporting a broad cast-iron gate with ball finials. Within the graveyard are numerous early 18th-century gravestones made of roughly dressed granite, along with smaller, possibly earlier, undressed memorial stones. Many of these memorials are etched with crosses and have partially eroded inscriptions, being arranged in a linear fashion and facing east (with their plain backs towards the road). There are also some 19th-century memorials made of slate and granite, one of which is enclosed by railings. On the south side is the ruinous remains of a segmental vault; only the earth embankments and end walls are missing, and it may have originally been a burial vault or a grotto. The parish priest believes this vault may be the chancel of an old church that once stood within the graveyard. The graveyard is depicted in its present form on the 1834 Ordnance Survey 6-inch map. The site's construction likely predates 1600.