County: Sligo Site name: COLLOONEY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 202:203 Licence number: 94E0127
Author: Linzi Simpson
Site type: Church
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 567958m, N 827007m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.190998, -8.490961
The site is a disused mill located on a bend in the Ballysadare River with the river forming the northern and western boundary. The mill was constructed in the grounds of a large house, Abbey House, which was subsequently demolished. A small church and graveyard lay to the west of the house, surrounded by a high wall which survives to the present day.
On August 15–16, 1994, twenty trial trenches were excavated by mechanical excavator. The work was carried out in advance of development.
The church
The church, which measures 16m east-west by 6m north-south and is in a very ruined state, originally had a double ogee-headed window datable to the 15th/16th century. The graveyard measures 23m east-west by 12m north-south. The ground level within the graveyard was 2.3m higher than the surrounding area.
The annals of Loch Cé record the placename Droiched-in Chillen indicating a burial place. A tradition is recorded that the church was built originally by the O'Haras and was in use in the late 15th century.
The trial trenching
The trial trenching revealed that the ground level, which had originally sloped sharply downwards from south to north, had been substantially levelled during the construction of the mill. At the south side of the church almost 3m had been removed creating a high ridge and exposing bedrock to the south and west of the church. Conversely, at the northern side of the site towards the river, the ground level had been built up to a depth of between 3–4m, creating a level surface from south to north. The only original ground surface remaining on the site, therefore, was within the graveyard.
Human remains
Investigations to the immediate east of the graveyard exposed the remains of at least three individuals less than 1.5m from the graveyard wall and only 0.4m below the present ground level. All had been cut into boulder clay and had been badly damaged prior to excavation. Skeleton 1 was orientated east-west and consisted of a shattered pelvis with several phalanges and part of the upper left femur still in situ.
Skeleton 2 and Skeleton 3 consisted of two pairs of lower legs, orientated east-west and spaced 150mm apart.
A ditch?
A further 21m from the graveyard wall, on the east side of the church, a loose fill of yellow clay may represent part of an enclosing ditch. This measured at least 5m east-west and was approx. 2m deep. A second trench, 5m to the north, also located this loose fill. However, a deep slab of concrete prevented further testing in this area.
Conclusion
The location of the skeletons, outside the precincts of the late medieval graveyard, indicates that it was originally larger in area and that the present church probably occupies the site of an earlier one. The skeletons, cut into the boulder clay, represent one of the earliest burial phases on the site. The latter are probably associated with the earlier church and graveyard, preserved in the place-name Droiched-in-Chillen. In addition, the location of the site on the bend in the river with a possible ditch to the east may suggest an early ecclesiastical enclosure.
45 Wyattville Place, Loughlinstown, Co. Dublin
