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faith · Sunday 6 September 2026 · 3:00pm 
Blessing of the Graves - Monaghan and Rackwallace Parish
At St Joseph's Cemetery, Latlurcan · Latlurcan, Monaghan, Co. Monaghan
At St Joseph's Cemetery, Latlurcan · Latlurcan, Monaghan, Co. Monaghan
Monaghan and Rackwallace parish holds its annual Blessing of the Graves on Sunday, 6 September 2026 at 3pm, when priests of the parish walk the town’s graveyards in Latlurcan and bless the plots in turn. It is a fixed date on the parish calendar each year, falling on the first Sunday of September, and it draws families back to Monaghan town from further afield as well as those who never left.
The parish maintains three burial grounds together in the Latlurcan townland on the edge of Monaghan town: the old graveyard, which contains the remains of a church that predates St Macartan’s Cathedral itself, St Joseph’s Calvary Graveyard, centred on a depiction of Calvary, and the newer St Joseph’s Cemetery. On the day, priests move between the graveyards blessing individual graves and reciting prayers for the dead, with families gathering at their own plots beforehand to tidy them and lay flowers ahead of the ceremony. It is an unhurried, familiar custom rather than a performance, one repeated in parishes right across the Diocese of Clogher on broadly the same weekend each year, and Monaghan town’s version is one of the larger gatherings given the size of the parish itself. A collection is usually taken up on the day toward the upkeep of the graveyards, in line with the practice at most parish cemeteries in the county.
Latlurcan is on the edge of Monaghan town, within easy walking distance of the Diamond and the town centre for anyone not driving. On-street parking and nearby car parks serve the graveyards on the day, though traffic around the site is heavier than usual while the ceremony is on.
Monaghan town’s own cemeteries sit close to St Macartan’s Cathedral and the county’s Peace Campus, home to the library and county museum, both worth a visit either side of the ceremony. There is more to see in Monaghan and across Co. Monaghan.
Heading to St Joseph's Cemetery, Latlurcan in Monaghan? Monaghan has plenty more to see. Read the Monaghan area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.