Scottish journalist Charles Mackay visited Famine Ireland in the summer of 1849 and traveled to Killarney.
He comments extensively on the grounds around Aghadoe Cathedral and how they were being used as a burial site for famine victims from the local workhouse.
Mackay notes that within the one-acre church grounds surrounding the cathedral, only a small corner was used for workhouse burials.
Aghadoe, (Irish: Achadh Deo "place with two yews"[1]) may have begun as a pagan religious site.
Maelsuthain O'Carroll, one of Innisfallen's greatest scholars, was buried at Aghadoe after his death in 1010 AD, and a legend suggests that the two monasteries were connected by a causeway across Loch Lein.
[4] When Amhlaoibh Mór Ó Donoghue was killed, his body was carried to Aghadoe and interred in the church.
"[7] The presence of these ogham stones suggests the site's importance dates back to the mid-seventh century.
[8] The bullaun may have been originally been used as a quern-stone, but it was later used as a holy water receptacle and rainwater collected in the hollow of the stone had healing properties according to lore.