Burial ground

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated in enclosed farmland, in the upper (western) part of the valley that opens out at the harbour. The location of this graveyard is misplaced on Ordnance Survey maps (MA085-020----) the actual site, which was pointed out by local people, lies c. 170m to SW of the old ‘Presbytery’. It is situated in a sight hollow flanked to N and S by small hillocks. The hollow is delimited on W by a modern field wall and on S by an old wall now surmounted by a wire fence. According to a number of local people (John and Mary-Anne Salmon, pers. obs.; Chris O’Leary, pers. obs.; Michael-Bob O’Malley, pers. obs.), this is the site of the graveyard marked on Ordnance Survey maps further to NE (MA075-004----). No visible surface traces of any graves survive, but there are traces of old cultivation ridges. Mary- Anne Salmon remembered seeing a wooden cross at this spot, and Michael-Bob O’Malley recalled that it was named ‘Garra Deaneen’. Westropp (1911a, 2) mentions it in passing as ‘a graveyard believed to be Christian, but without monuments’.

The above description is derived from: New Survey of Clare Island. Volume 5: Archaeology. Edited by Paul Gosling, Conleth Manning and John Waddell. (Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. 2007). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated.

Date of upload: 4 December 2018

References

Gosling, P., Manning, C. and Waddell, J. (eds.) 2007 New Survey of Clare Island, Volume 5: Archaeology. Dublin, Royal Irish Academy.

Westropp, T.J. 1911 Clare Island survey: history and archaeology. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 31, Section 1, Part 2, 1-78.