2014:495 - Baunmore, Galway

Monitoring and excavation took place in advance of a proposed new junction of the R347 and R348 at Baunmore just south of Athenry, Co. Galway in late October 2014. A burial was uncovered during testing at this site in September 2013. The lower legs (tibiae and feet), the right side of the pelvis and lower right arm were truncated. The in situ skeletal remains were poorly preserved and most of the bones, including the skull, were crushed and fragmented. A small corroded iron object, probably a buckle, was found in the pelvic area of the skeleton and is almost certainly associated with the burial.

There are a number of factors which may account for the isolated burial at Baunmore, the adjacent townland boundary, ringfort and cemetery being the obvious ones. It is considered unlikely that the burial is associated with the townland boundary which is located less than 10m to the south. It is more likely to be associated with the impressive ringfort GA084-027 located directly across the road, for burials are often found outside the enclosing elements of such sites. The existence of a large cemetery around the ringfort provides another possible context for the burial, for many individuals, including paupers, suicides, the unbaptised and strangers were frequently interred outside consecrated burial grounds. Although the Baunmore burial is likely to pre-date this early 20th-century burial ground, the cemetery's presence at this location may indicate a longstanding tradition of burial in this area. The discovery of three burials in the vicinity of the smaller ringfort (GA084-032) 200m to the south supports this hypothesis.

Dominic Delany & Associates, Unit 3, Howley Court, Oranmore, Co. Galway