The ruins of Old Desertoghill Parish Church and historic graveyard
lie on Kurin Road approx. two kms south-east of Garvagh, midway between
the village and the present church (erected 1782-4 in the townland of
Kurin).

Many headstones and memorials are buried in the turf, and others
badly weathered with inscriptions impossible to discern, while others
are completed covered with creepers and moss. There are also numerous
small field stones that rest against some of the iron gated area that
contain absolutely no information.

The graveyard is walled and covered with blackberries and the
church itself is barely visible as it is covered with ivy and creepers.
The roof has long gone and sections of the walls have collapsed and it
is not possible to gain entry to the building.

In the Ordnance survey, Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of Co
Londonderry VIII, 1830, 1833-7, 1839, page 5 and 6 states, "The
following are the names of families who still continue to bury in the
old graveyard of Desertoghill, taken at random throughout the yard:
Carother, Caskey, Doran, McGoigal, O'Kane, Kennedy, Loughin, Dunllap,
McIntosh, Wallace, Knox, Alexander, Fullerton, Henderson, Miller,
Gilmore, Thomson, Morris, Wood, Walker, Wilson, Toner, Young".

Additional notes state, "The old church of Deseroghill is situated
in the townland of Kurin, at a little distance from the old road to
Kilrea. It is in a dreary bleak situation at the edge of a bog and
appears to be decaying fast. The side walls are still 12 feet high,
which appears to have been the original height. No vestiges remain of
any doors or windows. It is said to have been founded by St. Columbkille
in the 5th Century. It was in 1773 when it was deserted on the account
of its unsound state and the expense of keeping it up."