- Forekill, Co. Kilkenny, Kilkenny

In November 1986 human remains were discovered during gravel-digging at Forekill, near Urlingford, Co. Kilkenny.¹³⁷ The site consisted of a low gravel and sand hillock, the southern half of which had been removed by a mechanical excavator. Human and animal remains were noticed in the course of this extraction. The site was reported to the Gardaí at Urlingford, who informed the National Museum. A site visit was carried out by Raghnall Ó Floinn. At the time of Ó Floinn’s visit the southern half of the hillock had been removed to the level of the surrounding field. According to the finder, a line of slabs was noticed in the area, aligned approximately northeast/south-west. No vertical settings of stones were noticed. The surviving bone indicated the presence of one individual (1986:122); there was also some animal bone, apparently cow bone (1986:123). It would appear that the find consists of a single pit burial, aligned north-east/southwest and protected by a series of slabs. The position of the skull and the disposition of the skeletal remains were not noted. The finder mentioned a tradition of a twelfth-century battle on Graine Hill, c. 1km to the south-west in Ballinascarry townland, and that his grandfather had uncovered ‘bones and swords’ on the same hill in the late nineteenth century.

137. Parish of Clomantagh, barony of Crannagh. OS 6in. sheet 12. SMR KK012-067. IGR 231870 161270.