2006:188 - KILCUMNEY, Carlow

An assessment was undertaken in advance of the client applying for planning permission for a proposed residential development. The proposed development site is within the area of constraint for CW019–043 (a graveyard site). No surface trace of the graveyard now remains, though the Archaeological Inventory of County Carlow mentions that ‘a small heap of field stones and several squared granite boulders, including two possible quoin stones lie on a short stretch of foundation, visible as straight edge in the grass’ (Brindley & Kilfeather 1993, 55). The site is marked as ‘site of Grave yard’ on the first-edition OS map (1839). The field boundary that makes up the current western edge of the proposed development site is relatively recent, as it is not present on the second-edition OS map (1905–6). The construction of this boundary would have disturbed any archaeological remains that lay in its path.

A number of archaeological features were identified during testing of the area. Agricultural furrows were located in all trenches, running east–west, probably the result of lazy-beds for cultivating potatoes due to their dimensions and depths. A shallow V-shaped ditch was noted in two of the trenches excavated, running east–west, and may be representative of an early field boundary, perhaps related to the church and graveyard activity in the adjoining field. A U-shaped gully identified in one of the trenches contained a rim sherd of Leinster cooking ware, indicating a medieval date. The gully may be related to the aforementioned shallow ditch, though its fills and morphology differ from the ditch. A pit was identified truncating the shallow V-shaped ditch in another trench; the presence of a tin button at the top of its upper fill may be indicative of a more modern date for the pit, perhaps relating to 1798 activity in the area. It may, however, have worked its way to this position by agricultural activity or bioturbation.

A human burial was uncovered at the northern end of one of the test-trenches; its extent was not fully uncovered during testing. The right femur and fibula of an adult burial were all that was exposed. The burial lies within an east–west-oriented grave in supine position with the head positioned to the west. The orientation and fully extended nature of the inhumation is indicative of Christian burial rites and it is therefore probably associated with the church and graveyard in the adjoining field. It is interesting to note that the test-trench did not encounter any other burials, which may suggest that this burial is an isolated outlier, perhaps of an outcast who did not merit burial with the main burial-ground.

Reference
Brindley, A. and Kilfeather, A. 1993 The Archaeological Inventory of County Carlow. Stationery Office. Dublin.

Unit 11, Abbey Business Centre, Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny