Burial ground

The National Monuments Service's description

On a S-facing slope in pasture. Excavated in 2006-7 in advance of the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford Road Improvement Scheme. Excavation licence no. 2517, AR054, Area F. One of a cluster of monuments found in close proximity to each other in an area c. 1.8ha with dates ranging from the Late Neolithic to the early medieval period. A linear inhumation cemetery aligned with the north-east curve of an Iron Age ring-ditch complex (KK031-081----). It consisted of three rows of 67 graves containing the poorly preserved remains of 43 individuals, both adults and children. The inhumations were in shallow, unlined graves oriented NE-SW. The distribution and orientation of the graves indicates that the linear cemetery respected not only the ring-ditch but also the gap in its NE quadrant. The cemetery may have been in use at a time of transition between a Pagan and Christian Ireland. The earliest radiocarbon date was Cal AD 427-561 (UB14016). This is also contemporary with kilns (KK031-088----) and metalworking furnaces (KK031-087----) in the area. Some burials remain outside the excavated area. (Channing 2009, 255-6, no. 1003; 2010a, 234, no. 881; 2010b)

Compiled by: Mary Tunney

Date of upload: 25 September 2013

References

Channing, J. 2010b N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford: Waterford to Powerstown – Phase 2 Archaeological resolution, Final Report, 3 vols. A032, E2517, Site AR53/54, Baysrath, Co Kilkenny. Unpublished excavation report submitted to the National Monuments Service, Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dublin.

Channing 2010a Baysrath. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2007: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 234, no. 881. Bray. Wordwell.

Channing, J. 2009 AR053/54, Baysrath. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2006: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 255-6, no. 1003. Bray. Wordwell.