Burial

The National Monuments Service's description

Located on a small island (dims c. 28m NE-SW; c. 5-15m NW-SE) of rock outcrop with a grass covering that is now attached to the mainland by a causeway. It is known as Forlorn or Crossfarnoge Point. ‘Forlorn’ is a Yola word meaning ‘foreland’ while Crosfarnoge is derived from Gaelic and means the ‘Cross of alder’ (O Crualaoich & Mac Giolla Chomhghaill 2016, 797). A storm in October 2017 revealed an inhumation (1) that created a lot of local interest (Anon. 2017-18). The remains were recovered by Maeve Sikora of the National Museum of Ireland, but another burial was noted. An area (dims 4m x 4m) was excavated (17E0574) by Catherine McLoughlin in November 2017 when the other skeleton (2) was recovered. No other burials were noted but others could still be present.
Both skeletons were roughly aligned N-S with the skulls at S, and both had been truncated by pits and sea erosion. Skeleton 1 was male, more than 45 years old at the time of death and produced a C14 date of AD 1526-1802, with a strong possibility that it lies in the 1632-1681 range. The second inhumation was more fragmentary but represented a young adult aged c. 13-25, whose sex could not be determined, and it has a C14 date range of AD 1653-1932, with a strong probability that it lies between 1735 and 1806. Two discrete inhumations of shipwreck victims are probably represented, one most likely occurring in the seventeenth century and the other probably in the eighteenth century. A broken metal point and one impacted lead bullet were recovered in excavation, but two pieces of flint, and nine other impacted lead bullets were also recovered. (McLoughlin 2018, McLoughlin and Breen 2019)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 14 May 2019
Amended: 5 December 2019

References

Anon. 2017 Forlorn Grave. Kilmore Parish Journal, 3-4.

Ó Crualaoich, C. & Mac Giolla Chomhghaill, A. 2016 Townland Names of Co. Wexford. 2 vols, Stationary Office, Dublin

McLoughlin, C. 2018: Archaeological Excavation Report, Forlorn Point, Ballyteige Burrow, Co. Wexford. Licence No. 17E0574. Unpublished report, Stafford McLoughlin Archaeology, Wexford

McLoughlin, C. and Breen, C. 2019 Update on human skeletal remains exposed by Storm Ophelia at Forlorn Point. Archaeology Ireland, vol. 33, No. 4, Issue No. 130, 11.