What is recorded here

Killeany is an unmarked burial ground in County Laois where human bones resurfaced in 1958 after a road cut through the old grave site. The bones lay scattered beside the river rather than arranged in burial, suggesting they had been dragged from their original resting places when the Grand Jury built its road before 1839. What remains is a field with no marker, no boundary and no visible trace, yet it holds the displaced dead of a place that stopped being recorded long before the bones reappeared.

Not marked on the 1841 or 1909 editions of the OS 6-inch maps. In a low-lying area beside river. Human bones discovered here in 1958. No visible surface remains. The bones were found about 100 yards S of the castle (LA023-012001-) in the same field. According to the OPW report these bones did not represent burials and probably came from the old burial ground at Killeany which was partly destroyed by building a road through it over a 100 years ago (OPW 1958). Originally a graveyard nearby but the Grand Jury constructed a road through it before 1839 (OPW file 1958). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 December 2007

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.