1999:385 - GREAT CONNEL, Kildare

Monitoring was undertaken at this site, as a private residence is being constructed within 50m of the standing stone. During the digging of the foundation trench for the southern wall of the internal courtyard, 2m from the western end of the wall, bone was recovered from the digger bucket. This bone was highly fragmented, but the skull was almost complete; the bone fragments were very crumbly and brittle.

The bones were recovered from within a clay matrix-fine, mid- to light brown with few stones (those present <50mm in diameter), flecks of charcoal and also two fragments of snail shell.

There was no sign of a cut or an obvious differentiation in the fill within which these bones were recovered.

The cutting of the foundation trenches for the western wing of the house did not reveal any cuts, indication of cuts, artefacts or other human remains, or evidence of further burial. Therefore these bones seem to be a discrete burial. Given the absence of a differentiated fill and the fact that these bones were recovered from the digger bucket, it is not possible to determine whether they were originally buried in this location or were reburied at a subsequent date.

Examination and analysis of these skeletal remains have now been completed by L. Buckley. The skeleton has been identified as belonging to a female aged around 25 years. The pattern of decay is consistent with that of an individual dating from the medieval or Early Christian period. A post-medieval date is possible, but a 20th-century date has been ruled out.

This programme of monitoring recovered a possible Early Christian skeleton and a fragment of rotary quern, which may also date to the Early Christian period. This may suggest that the site itself was an Early Christian one and therefore may support the contention that the standing stone is in fact a cross shaft.

32 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2