Burial ground in Cormackstown

Situated on a slight break in a SW-facing slope, in undulating pastureland. Identified on an aerial photograph taken in June 1973 (GSIAP, S 466/7) as a roughly square area partially defined by a kink in the field boundary. The site consists of a raised platform (c. 34m N-S; 20m E-W) with a gently sloping scarp (H 0.4-6m). A neighbouring landowner recalled a local tradition of this being a burial ground and remembered that when the field was being tilled the area from the kink in the field boundary down to the road was never tilled but was deliberately left undisturbed. The N and W sectors are delineated by a hedgerow. The E side is quite clearly defined by a scarp but the S side is less clear - the platform sloping down in an irregular fashion. The date of the burial ground is unknown and the site is not noted on the 1st ed. (1843) OS 6-inch map. The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary' compiled by Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 22 September 2008

A Neolithic burial ground; significance relates to its identification through aerial photography, indicating early agricultural or ritual activity in the landscape.