Burial ground

The National Monuments Service's description

Listed in SMR (1992) as unlocated burials site possible because in NMI correpsondence registers from 1948 there is an account the discovery of several skeletons in 1918 2-4 ft below the surface of the ground located 300 yards from Cloghprior Abbey. In 1947 the National Museum received a report of burials discovered on a farm in the vicinity of Cloughprior Abbey, Co. Tipperary (Cahill & Sikora 2011, vol. 2, 517). The remains had apparently been discovered around 1924 by the father of the correspondent to the NMI, Mr Joseph Keane. The bones were found at a depth of 0.6-1.2m below ground level on the summit of a hill, close to a ringfort. The bodies were apparently placed haphazardly over each other and there was no specific orientation. According to Mr Keane, at least eight individuals were found but no associated artefacts or grave structures were noticed. Local tradition held that a battle was fought on this hill in Cromwellian times.
In 2016 the location of the monument was identified when skeletal material including a bleached skull was visible in the plough-soil at the base of a hillock on the S side. The skeletal material was reported to Nenagh Garda station by the landowner and the material to Laureen Buckley who reported this find to the National Monuments Service. The skeletal material has been sent to the National Museum of Ireland. It is possible that the scrub-covered hillock may have been used as a burial ground.

The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary' compiled by Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled and revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload/revision: 31 April 2016

References

Cahill, M. and Sikora, M. (eds) 2011 Breaking ground, finding graves - reports on the excavations of burials by the National Museum of Ireland, 1927-2006, 2 vols. Dublin. Wordwell Ltd. in association with the National Museum of Ireland.