What is recorded here

Illanaght is a tiny grassy island off the Fanad peninsula where a body lay buried without markers or goods, waiting for the tide and forgetfulness to keep its secret. In January 1990 bone appeared through the sod, drawing Gardaí, a curious treasure-seeker and a temporary move to Letterkenny before the remains went back beneath the grass. The island gives up little, takes back what humans disturb, and still stands at the edge of the sea like a forgotten chamber in a house nobody lives in.

‘In January 1990 human bone was discovered on Illanaght, a small tidal island forming part of the townland of Ballyhooriskey on the Fanad peninsula, Co. Donegal. The island is a low grassy eminence c.30m in diameter, separated from dry land but only cut off at very high tides. The discovery was reported to the Gardaí, who removed the skull to the morgue in Letterkenny and reported the find to the NMI. A number of days later the remaining bones were dug up by a local person apparently in search of ‘treasure’, and the entirety of the remains were subsequently reburied on site by the Gardaí. The site was investigated by Raghnall O Floinn, but as the remains were ex situ by the time of investigation this report this report is based on the Garda observations. The skeleton was found on the seaward side of the island to the north-east. It lay approximately east/west, with the head to the west, in shingle just underneath the sod. There was no evidence of grave-markers or stone slabs, and it appears that the grave was simply an unlined pit. The body (1990:2) lay extended in a supine position with the head to the west. No artefacts were found with this burial.’ (Cahill and Sikora 2011, Vol. 2, 466) Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 20 January 2015

A Neolithic burial on a tidal island; significant as a rare example of early human activity in a coastal or tidal environment in Donegal.

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