2012:507 - Boyle Abbey, Roscommon

As part of the ongoing conservation works at Boyle Abbey, Boyle, Co. Roscommon a fifth season of excavation at the site was carried out over several weeks between January and March 2012. The excavation areas comprised unexcavated baulks of material at the west and east ends of the church. At the west end the excavation area was located east of the west wall previously exposed during Season 4 (Excavations 2010, No. 570), immediately north of a possible 17th/18th-century infilling wall between the arcading, and south of the north wall of the church. At least two phases of burials were uncovered in the western excavation area. They consisted of east-west-orientated inhumations in simple earth-cut graves. No formal grave lining was apparent within the grave cuts nor were any personal adornments or belongings recovered with the burials. In the eastern excavation area a large pit was located immediately west of the door in the north transept. It cut through a compact material which was interpreted as the likely floor level of the church and was filled with thick homogenous layers which contained a moderate to frequent amount of animal bone. A small pit located further to the west also cut the church floor. One articulated burial (B901) was uncovered in this area and was found beneath the floor of the church in the south-eastern corner of the excavation. The burial was orientated east-west, although the cranium was not extant. The feet of the skeleton rested on one of the foundation stones of the north transept.

Tobar Archaeological Services, Saleen, Midleton, Cork.