- Moyleabbey, Co. Kildare, Kildare

In November 1972 a trepanned skull was found during drain-cleaning at Moyle Abbey, near Ballitore, Co. Kildare. The skull was found 0.3m below ground level, about 2m outside the wall of a cemetery. The site was not investigated but the skull was brought to the Museum and examined by Professor C.A. Erskine. This report is based on the report by the finder, Mr Andrew Forrest, and on Erskine’s analysis of the skull. The site was in the townland of Moyleabbey, south-east Co. Kildare,³⁹ approximately 2km north of the village of Ballitore. It was discovered in a drain that ran along the wall of the small burial place. There seems to be no trace of the site of Moyle Abbey. There was no evidence of the grave structure. According to the finder, the lower part of the body had probably been removed in previous drain-cleaning. The burial consisted of a disturbed inhumation grave without associated artefacts. The skull (1973:219), neck and shoulders of the individual were found.⁴⁰ Forrest described the position of the bones as indicating that the skeleton would have been ‘partly in a sitting position and never buried’. It is difficult to understand the meaning of this observation, but it is probable that the remains were greatly disturbed and most likely not in situ. The skull was found to be that of a male aged between 40 and 50 years. It bears an opening, identified as a trephination, in the left frontal bone. The opening is oval in form, the long diameter in the long axis of the skull, and measures 0.05m by 0.035m. The opening was made during life and the individual survived for at least one year after the operation. It was not a result of disease or accidental trauma. The subject of trephination in Ireland was discussed briefly by Buckley and Ó Donnabháin (1992), who referred to ten definite examples known at that date from archaeological contexts in Ireland. The reasons for undergoing such a dangerous procedure vary from the relief of medical conditions such as migraine to the release of evil spirits.

Human remains
C.A. ERSKINE⁴¹

The fragments comprise an almost complete dolichocephalic male skull of an individual aged 40–50 years, with the vault and upper part of the facial skeleton in one piece and the maxilla and zygomatic bone separated but easily fitted to the larger piece (right temporal bone glued in place). The zygomatic arch and the major part of occipital squama and basal parts absent on base. The mandible is nearly complete except for the absence of the right coronoid process and right head and neck. Except for the opening described below, there are no special peculiarities. Well-developed mastoid process. Traces of interfrontal suture. The condition of the skull would suggest a medieval date. The teeth are not characteristic of early skulls. There is post-mortem loss of incisors, and though there is marked wear shown in most of the remaining teeth, there is ante-mortem loss by several years of the molar teeth, with absorption of alveolar process. Right canine is misplaced. One molar outlined in expansion of floor of maxillary sinus; a fine hole passes through this.

A special feature of this skull is the opening seen in the vault. This opening is in the left frontal bone, oval in form, the long diameter in the long axis of the skull, and measures 5cm by 3.5cm. The greater wing of sphenoid is 2cm below the lower margin of the opening. The posterior part of the lower margin is 2cm above the squamous part of temporal bone and the anterior margin is 3cm from the orbital margin. The area of the margin between the outer and inner tables has a shallow slope, the width of this being 2cm at its widest part in the upper edge to 0.5cm in the lower margin. The edges are formed of compact bone and are smooth. The diploe are covered by a layer of compact bone. An area 2cm by 1cm with five or six fine shallow grooves is just visible near the anterior margin on the outer table. The edge on the outer table at the beginning of the slope on the posterior margin passes across the normal line of the coronal suture, but this suture curves around the edge of the opening level with the outer table to continue to meet the greater wing of the sphenoid bone at the pterion in the normal pattern. Radiography of the skull shows that the area around the opening has an irregular dense zone level with the outer table and an irregular zone of rarefaction outside this about 1–1.5cm wide around the lower margin. The opening in this skull was made during life, and the individual survived for more than one year, probably several years. It was not caused by disease processes or accidental trauma. It can be concluded that this opening is a trephination.

39. Parish of Narraghmore, barony of Narragh and Reban East. The exact find-spot of the skull is not marked, but the IGR for the cemetery is 28096, 19786, SMR KD036-005——.
40. Only the skull, which bears a trephination, was acquired.
41. The report is published as written by Professor Erskine, with minor editing for clarity