What is recorded here

Oileán Máisean is an island in County Galway where the NE sand-dunes above Trá an Éadain hold a burial site known locally as Guaire na gCnámha. Tradition says very high tide once washed away sand and exposed bones, a warning that the sea claims back what people bury near it. The dunes keep that memory alive because they change, reveal and hide again.

In the sand-dunes above Trá an Éadain at NE end of the island. Known locally as Guaire na gCnámha: 'people talk of bones being exposed when a very high tide washed away the sand ... a few generations ago' (Robinson 1985, 30). On a revisit to the island in April 2014 the sandy stretch of coastline at its NE end was walked and the area around the E side of the lake was checked out but no bones were observed. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. I - West Galway'. Compiled by Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1993). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Revised by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 1 May 2014

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