Graveyard

The National Monuments Service's description

On level ground at the N-end of a low, narrow, N-S pasture ridge, and containing a church site (KD010-012001-). Although not named as a graveyard on the 1st ed. (1838) of the OS 6-inch map, the site was referred to in the OSL (Herity 2002, 25) as a 'burial ground'. A large, sub-rectangular area (dims. L c. 100m ENE-WSW; Wth c. 50m) is enclosed by a modern concrete wall and contains a few illegible headstones near the W and S ends. The interior is very uneven underfoot with numerous tussocks and is higher (H 1.2-1.6m) than surrounding ground level. In 1998, five trenches were archaeologically excavated (Licence no. 98E0559) to test an area in advance of a proposed development near the church and graveyard. A small pit-like feature cut into the natural subsoil was exposed c. 20m SW of the graveyard. The peat-like fill produced medieval pottery and animal bones. The pottery dates to the 13th-15th centuries and suggests activity in the area at that time, although its nature and extent are not known and there were no other finds in the remainder of the area tested. (www.excavations.ie)

Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy

Date of upload: 10 June 2011