Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Burial ground
Attirory, County Leitrim, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Attirory
- County
- Leitrim
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Latest-edition OS map
- Caldragh
- Coordinates
- 53.93939, -8.07467
- SMR number
- LE031-039----
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1790 "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
Located at the top of a prominent drumlin, with a N-S section of the River Shannon c. 300m to the W. A rectangular hachured feature is designated as 'Caldragh', which is the Irish word for burial ground, only on the 1945 revision of the OS 6-inch map. This is a grass-covered rectangular platform (dims c. 80m NW-SE c. 60m NE-SW) defined by a slight bank (Wth 3m; H 0.1m) at SW, a scarp (Wth 3.7m; H 0.45m) at SE an a slight bank (Wth 5.3m; H 0.1-0.2m) at NE. There is no surface evidence of burial or any record of burial. The interior is bisected by a NE-SW road and its perimeter cannot be detected NW of this feature. There is no evidence of a church (LE031-039001-), but there is a bullaun stone (LE031-039002-) and the burial ground is within the large ecclesiastical enclosure (LE031-039003-).
Archaeological monitoring and excavation (15E0453) on the line of the NW road bank encountered six burials (595098, 798912) and what might have been a grave-marker with other disturbed bones overlying archaeological features, including a ditch that could have formed the N and W boundary of a burial ground, along with a possible hearth. The bullaun stone (dims 0.8m X 0.5m; H 0.5m) with a single basin (diam. 0.32m; D 0.16m) worn down at one side, which had been at a nearby house in 1977 (SMR file) had become incorporated into the road bank but was rediscovered (Delaney 2015). Further testing (18E0707) in the SW quadrant of the ecclesiastical enclosure identified a ditch (Wth 4-7m) on the line of its perimeter. Other features in this area were post-holes and pits containing animal bones and slag suggesting that this part of the enclosure was devoted to industrial activity (McHugh 2019). See: Exavations.ie 2019:075, accessed on 10/01/2020.
Compiled by: Michael Moore
Date of upload: 15 October, 2019
Amended: 10 January 2020
References
McHugh, T. 2019 Archaeological testing at Attirory, Co. Leitrim. First Part, Licence No. 18E0707. Unpublished report, Fadó Archaeology
Delaney, D. 2015: Archaeological monitoring of topsoil strip for a proposed cycle lane and footpath at Attirory, Co. Leitrim. Licence No. 15E0453. Preliminary report, Unpublished, Dominic Delaney and Associates
Nearby in the register
- Churchunder 1 mi
- Ecclesiastical enclosureunder 1 mi
- Bullaun stoneunder 1 mi
- Ringfort - rathunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.