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faith · Sunday 2 August 2026 · 10:00am 
Blessing of the Graves - Clontibret Parish
At St Michael's Cemetery, Annyalla · Annyalla, Co. Monaghan
At St Michael's Cemetery, Annyalla · Annyalla, Co. Monaghan
Clontibret Parish holds its Blessing of the Graves across three cemeteries in early August each year, a tradition that reaches back through the parish’s three churches, St Mary’s in Clontibret itself, St Michael’s in Annyalla and All Saints in Doohamlet. The first of the three ceremonies for 2026 takes place on Sunday, 2 August at St Michael’s Cemetery, Annyalla at 10am, ahead of Clontibret’s own cemetery on the following Saturday and Doohamlet the day after that.
Each cemetery blessing follows the same simple pattern: a priest walks the grounds reciting prayers for the dead and blessing individual graves, usually with a good turnout of local families and people who return to the parish specifically for the day. Clontibret is a small, scattered rural parish on the N2 between Monaghan town and Castleblayney, better known outside the county for the Battle of Clontibret in 1595, when Hugh O’Neill’s forces ambushed and defeated an English column under Henry Bagenal, a turning point early in the Nine Years’ War. The parish’s split between Catholic and Protestant traditions over the centuries is reflected in its three churches today, and the August blessings move between all three communities rather than being held in one place. Annyalla’s ceremony on 2 August opens the sequence this year.
Annyalla and Clontibret village both sit just off the N2, the main Monaghan to Castleblayney road, with Doohamlet a short distance further into the parish’s back roads. A car is the only practical way to reach any of the three cemeteries.
Clontibret itself is worth a stop for its history alone: a small place with an outsized role in the Nine Years’ War, and quiet drumlin walking country either side of the N2. There is more to see in Clontibret, in nearby Annyalla, and across Co. Monaghan.
Heading to St Michael's Cemetery, Annyalla in Clontibret? Monaghan has plenty more to see. Read the Clontibret area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.
In town for St Michael's Cemetery, Annyalla? These Dublin tours book out in summer.