The cemetery came before the castle. In days when Galong Castle was an unlikely dream and as yet far into the future, Squatter Ned Ryan made provision for another haven. A kilometer to the east of his own slab hut he set aside land for a burial ground. Galong cemetery goes back practically to the very dawn of white settlement (late 1820’s) in this part of NSW.

The present stone wall with Scotch coping was the bequest of Ned’s son, the Hon. John Nagle Ryan. The National Trust of Australia included Galong Cemetery in its register on 18th May 1987. The Friends of Galong Cemetery established in 1994 obtained grants from the Heritage Council of NSW. Thanks to these grants from the NSW Government, assistance from Harden Shire Council, the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn and the voluntary labour of the local community, the restoration of Galong Cemetery has been accomplished. Carl Valerius and Bob Winterton through their skill and dedicated labour on the wall, monuments and paths, accomplished the restoration. John Nagle Ryan had ordered that the cemetery be kept in order and that a sum of thirty pounds be expended annually on the vault and fence and walks… he furthered ordered… That the cemetery be fenced with a wall fence four and a half feet high with Scotch coping.