Burial ground

The National Monuments Service's description

Located immediately to W of Donegal castle/tower house (DG093-013001-). Between 30 April and 27 November 2002 a number of narrow trenches were archaeologically excavated (02E0496) close to the tower house, in advance of the laying of service pipes and cables. One of the trench (2m by 1m; D 1.3m at N, 0.8m at S) was opened to the north-west of the tower house, just below the break of slope down to the river. It revealed a slab-lined, lintelled grave, the floor of which appeared also to be paved with slabs. The grave was greatly disturbed, and the lower part of the skeleton was missing. The burial had an E−W orientation, with the head to the west, and appeared to be that of a child or juvenile. There was evidence of two other possible graves, lying parallel at the east and west. They did not contain articulated remains, but the fill included fragments of human bone mixed with concentrations of animal bone and oyster shells, i.e. refuse from the castle mixed in with human remains as a result of root action. Further fragments of human remains lay beneath the slab-lined grave, and may indicate layering within the graves. A possible fifth grave in the north-east corner of the cutting appeared to have been deliberately emptied and incorporated into a drain for the tower-house. There appears to have been considerable disturbance of the graves when the tower-house was constructed; it is possible that the builders of the castle gathered up the bones from the disturbed graves and placed them elsewhere. The graves are typical of the Early Medieval lintel type, which implies that the castle was constructed on a pre-existing burial ground (Moore 2004, No. 0416). The full extent of the burial ground is unknown.

Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 1 December 2017

References

Moore, F. 2004 No. 0416 Donegal Castle, Donegal. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2002: Summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, Bray. Wordwell.