Lychgate of Tartaraghan Parish Church

Image: © P Flannagan Taken: 22 Feb 2007

A Lychgate is a covered open structure, found at a church gate. It normally consists of four or six oak posts embedded in the ground in a rectangular shape. On top of this are a number of beams to hold a steeply sloping straight pitched roof covered in wooden or clay peg tiles. The name is derived from the Saxon Lych meaning "corpse" and gate meaning entrance. Hence corpse entrance. The lychgates were built from about the mid 15th century. It was the custom at the time for priests to conduct the first part of the funeral service under its shelter. During medieval times the rich were the only people buried in coffins. The poor were carried to the lychgate and placed on a stone or wooden table covered in a shroud before burial. See Image

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