County: Donegal Site name: Disert Graveyard
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DG084-001 and environs Licence number: 17E0189
Author: Fiona Beglane, IT Sligo
Site type: Ecclesiastical site, multi-period
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 587942m, N 887292m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.733529, -8.187219
The site consists of a holy well and associated penitential cairns located close to a small, walled graveyard. The graveyard also contains penitential cairns and an outdoor altar and lies within an embanked enclosure. A large enclosure surrounds the site. Abutting this is a third enclosure, with a lintelled entrance feature known as the ‘megalith’ or ‘arch’. All the monuments are points in the pilgrim landscape of Disert.
In 2016 the Disert Heritage Project developed a Conservation Management Plan for the archaeological complex at Disert. This was a joint project between the Disert Heritage Group and IT Sligo and funded by the Heritage Council (Beglane et al. 2016). The plan identified a number of opportunities, threats and vulnerabilities for the site. In 2017 it was proposed to address a number of these as part of this ongoing project.
Within the Zone of Archaeological Notification the following monitored works were carried out:
a) Removal of modern fencing and fence posts around the inner ecclesiastical enclosure/children’s graveyard/penitential cairns (DG084-001001, -001002 and -001005, -001006, -001007, -001008, -001011).
b) Removal of modern fencing and fence posts around the holy well and penitential cairns (DG084-001004, -001009 and -001010).
c) Partial removal of sections of 19th-century dry stone wall and rebuilding of remaining sections using the removed stone.
Outside the Zone of Archaeological Notification the following works were monitored as a precautionary measure:
d) Removal of existing pedestrian gate and replacement with a ‘kissing gate’ at the access point from the road.
e) Removal of existing pedestrian gate and replacement with a ‘kissing gate’ close to the site boundary.
f) Fitting of posts for footfall monitoring close to the site boundary
g) Grading of slope at embankment close to the site boundary
Monitoring of groundworks undertaken did not reveal any previously unknown archaeology and no disturbance of archaeologically significant material took place.
Reference:
Beglane, F, Nugent, L & Meehan, H 2016, Conservation Management Plan for the Ecclesiastical Enclosure and Pilgrim Landscape of Disert, Inver Parish, Co Donegal, Unpublished report for the Heritage Council.
CERIS, Department of Environmental Science Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ash Lane, Sligo
