1988:58 - SAND PIT GROVE, Caherabbey Lower, Tipperary

Following reports from the local Garda Station that human bones had been found in a section of the roadstone quarry near Cahir, the site was inspected by Pat Holland, Curator, Tipperary South Riding County Museum and staff of the National Museum of Ireland. At the first inspection only scattered bones were noted and no burials were observed in situ. Subsequent, quarrying on the site revealed further burials and a joint rescue of the exposed burials was undertaken over a period of a weeks in late August and September.

The site was located on a gravel ridge overlooking the River Suir. The cemetery was contained within an area named 'Sand Pit Grove' on the O.S. sheet of 1906, and it was clearly used for quarrying at an earlier date. The recent extensive disturbance of the site caused by clearing the trees and topsoil removed all evidence of any enclosing feature, but the maps and local information suggest that some form of approximately circular enclosing feature existed. Some mortared stones were observed.

The graves were unmarked; shallow pits containing extended inhumations oriented east-west with the heads to the west. The precise number of burials has not yet been ascertained but six skeletons were excavated in situ. There is some evidence to suggest that the heads were supported in a slightly raised position. Some burials were disturbed by later insertions.

There was no evidence of grave goods, coffins or any other features.

The bones are in a poor state of preservation caused by mechanical damage and soil conditions. Further elucidation of the site will largely depend on the anatomical reports and scientific dating.