1998:550 - DERRYVILLA, Offaly

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken during 20–31 July 1998 at the site of a burial-ground in Derryvilla townland, Co. Offaly. The area in question is the site of a sand quarry, and as a result of the quarrying activities human remains were exposed. There had been no previous indication of a burial-ground on the site. The area is a plateau forming the top of a hill. The land slopes steeply to the north and east, while the south side of the plateau corresponds with the edge of the quarry bowl. It can be presumed that this plateau originally extended southwards into the area now occupied by the quarry. Most of the exposed bones were found in the vicinity of an ESB pylon that stands on the north side of the quarry, and human remains could be seen protruding from the section face of the quarry in this area.

The purpose of the test excavation was to determine the lateral extent of the burial-ground and to give some indication of the concentration of burials within. A series of twenty hand-dug box trenches was inserted at intervals over the natural plateau that existed above and to the west of the ESB pylon. Three machine-cut trenches were also inserted outside the burials as defined by hand-testing. A fourth machine-cut trench was inserted on the south-west side of the quarry, where some fragments of human bone had been observed lying on the ground surface during the initial site visit.

The stratigraphy across the site consisted of topsoil to a depth of c. 0.3m, overlying a brown, humic sand that occurred to a depth of up to almost 1m in places. Within this brown sand lay the skeletons. Beneath the brown sand lay the white, sterile sand of which the hill is composed.

Burials, either disturbed or in situ, were found in eleven of the test-trenches. Most of the trenches contained occasional fragments of human bone, often within the topsoil, which had been transported from elsewhere. All undisturbed burials, with the exception of that found in Trench 10, were orientated precisely or closely east to west, indicating that the cemetery belongs to the Christian era. The burial found in Trench 10 was orientated more closely north to south. The uncovering of parts of a skeleton where the bones were clearly arranged in the correct anatomical position was taken as adequate evidence of the existence of a burial in that location, and there was no deliberate policy of removing the human remains.

A ditch feature was discovered that appears to run north to south across the centre of the plateau. The occurrence of undisturbed burials close to the eastern side of this feature and the absence of any evidence of burial on its western side strongly suggest that this feature delineates the western boundary of the cemetery. The apparent discontinuation of bone in the section of the quarry face beyond a point 20m west of the ESB pylon corresponds with this evidence. Burials were also found right up to the edge of the plateau on all sides to the east of this ditch, and the section of the quarry face suggests that burial continued for some metres down the slope of the hill beyond the eastern edge of the plateau.

No specific attempt was made to determine the extent of stratified burial as to do so would have involved the opening of a larger area and the removal of some burials. The varying depths at which burials were found suggests that there had been occasional superimposition of interments, while the section face also gave some indication of stratified burial. However, the manner in which many of the exposed skeletons appeared to lie upon the sterile, white sand indicates that stratified burial was not the norm.

It is probable that the natural plateau on the summit of the hill acted as the focus of this burial-ground. While it is clear that an unknown portion of this burial-ground has been destroyed by quarrying on the south of the area tested, it appears that some of the western boundary of the cemetery, as defined by the ditch, is intact. It also appears likely that the topography to the north and east of the plateau has not been greatly altered, and thus the original boundary, as indicated approximately by the edge of the plateau, may be preserved on these sides.

39 Kerdiff Park, Monread, Naas, Co. Kildare