St Stephen's Cemetery: Hidden History

Plague & Leprosy

St Stephen’s graveyard and St Nicholas’s at the old bridge were used for the burial of the town plague victims between the 14^th and 17^th centuries. The choice to bury plague victims in these two sites may be because of the Saints names. Both St Stephen’s and St Nicholas’s are associated with medieval churches and hospitals that fight against plague and leprosy. One of the main plagues Clonmel suffered from was the Black Death, which arrived in 1349.

Large pits were dug to bury the victims quickly in the churches of St. Stephens and St. Nicholas. The ravages of the plague were economic as well, the town of Clonmel had to petition for tax relief and aid in 1351. Plagues, war and pestilence continued throughout the following centuries, in one document it was recorded that by 1608 Clonmel had suffered two years of plague and some of the townspeople had to burn their houses and were now living in poverty.

Information from ‘St Nicholas Church and Graveyard/ teampull na Plaighe: Our Irish heritage – national museum of Ireland website 9.7.21