Cist

The National Monuments Service's description

Located on a rise in the middle of a plateau bounded by the Goulaun River on one side and by the steep rise of Letterkeen Hill on the other, in an area of mountainous and boggy terrain.
In 1935 a local man found two food vessels with a quantity of cremated bone in a cavity or cist (c. 0.9m x c. 0.6m x 0.6m) beneath a large slab (c. 0.9m x c. 0.6m) in the SW quadrant of a rath (MA046-004007-). The finds were sent to the National Museum. The bones were found to comprise the remains of at least two adults and a child, and the cist was dated to the Bronze Age (Ó 'Ríordáin and Mac Dermott, 1950-51, 89-90). A subsequent excavation (E000015) revealed that the cist was part of a phase of activity that pre-dated the construction of the rath (Ó 'Ríordáin and Mac Dermott, 1950-51). A possible burial cairn (MA046-004001-), two other cists (MA046-004003-; MA046-004004-) and two pit burial (MA046-004005-; MA046-004006-) were also found, also dating to the Bronze Age.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 9 April 2019

References

Ó Ríordáin, S.P. and Mac Dermott, M. 1950-1 The excavation of a ringfort at Letterkeen, Co. Mayo. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 54, 89-119