County: Galway Site name: Kilgarve
Sites and Monuments Record No.: None Licence number: 21E0470
Author: Richard Crumlish
Site type: Disarticulated human bone
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 586615m, N 731036m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.329405, -8.200936
The test excavation of a site in advance of its development adjacent to Creagh Cemetery in Ballinalsoe, County Galway, was carried out on 24 and 25 August and 17 September 2021. The project concerns an extension to the graveyard. The testing was a recommendation of an impact assessment carried out previously on the site, which consists of a field of pasture partly located within the constraint for a recorded monument, a church (RMP No. GA088-006) and graveyard (RMP No. GA088-006001). The graveyard was located adjacent to the west side of the proposed development site.
The testing consisted of the excavation (by machine) of five trenches, located to best cover the area of the proposed development, especially that closest to GA088-006001. The trenches measured 41m, 80.3m, 80.4m, 85.5m and 89.6m long respectively; 1.8-2.1m wide and 0.4-1.5m deep.
Testing revealed evidence of topsoil above natural subsoils in three of the five trenches excavated. A small shallow cut containing charcoal, animal bone and red brick fragments was found in the fourth trench. An area of fill, which contained a large number of animal bone fragments, a small number of human skull fragments, modern pottery sherds and modern glass fragments, was found in the fifth trench. The area of fill appeared to fill a natural hollow rather than a cut or a ditch feature. A number of the modern glass fragments and modern pottery sherds were found in close proximity to the human skull fragments, dating them (and the fill) to the 19th/20th century. It was difficult to know where the fill originated, although with the proximity of the cemetery and the presence of human bone in the fill, one could speculate that it may not have come from that far away.
The nine fragments of human bone were all adult cranial remains. Eight of the fragments refitted together with the ninth, a small fragment, probably from the same single individual. It was not possible to determine the sex of the individual or the precise age-at-death, however, the osteoarchaeological analysis indicated that the individual may have been aged anywhere between 20 and 45 years of age. It was likely that these nine fragments were truncated in antiquity from one adult burial located somewhere in the vicinity.
Apart from the nine human skull fragments, no features, deposits or artefacts of archaeological significance were in evidence.
4 Lecka Grove, Castlebar Road, Ballinrobe, County Mayo
