County: Offaly Site name: BALLICKNAHEE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Donald Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Burial ground
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 627944m, N 733826m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.353917, -7.580248
This site inspection of a gravel ridge in Ballicknahee townland, near Clara, Co. Offaly, took place on 14 November 1997 following the discovery of several burials. The burials were uncovered during quarrying and the Gardaí and the National Monuments Section of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands were informed. A cist burial which contained a crouched inhumation and a superimposed cremation had been recorded in the National Museum Acquisitions for 1961 (JRSAI 93 (1963), 124).
A large hole, 20m by 20m, had been cut in the ridge and was up to 5m in depth. A number of bone fragments were collected in the west of the cutting and one inhumation, which appeared to be extended in a north-east to south-west direction, was still visible in a shallow grave cut into the gravel. In total the remains of at least seven individuals were recovered and appear to be Bronze Age to Early Christian in date. Contingency measures to stabilise the site were recommended to avoid further disturbance to the cemetery.
5 Trinity Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth
