What is recorded here

Five centuries of burial marked a narrow ridge above Athboy, where medieval quarry pits were refilled with the dead after they had dried cereal for the living. The recovered bones belong to children, adolescents and adults whose bodies record hunger and disease, not heroism. They were placed in small groups along the ridge edge, close enough to the town wall to suggest familiarity but separated from its main streets by a shallow ditch and wet ground. The ridge did not announce itself as a graveyard; it absorbed one after another and waited for excavation to give the names back.

Located on a slight ridge with the NW-SE Athboy River c. 150m to the SW, and c. 45m SE of the walled town of Athboy. Archaeological excavation (08E0865) uncovered nine burials dating c. 1440-1660 AD and disarticulated bone representing 14 individuals. A burnt spread and three small pits a the W base of the ridge produced a few lithics and C14 dates of 2880-2750 cal BC and 2147-2016 cal BC, but the later burials were spread over an extensive area of the ridge (dims c. 30m NE-SW; c. 7-10m NW-SE), although on the NE side of a NW-SE boundary ditch with lower wet ground to the SW. The intact interments were generally extended E-W in groupings of four, three and two individuals, and some were made in medieval quarry pits that had been re-used to dry cereal grains. The complete burials comprised of two males, three females, one adolescent and three children, and all suffered from debilitating conditions associated with poor health and nutrition. (Shine 2011; Shine and Travers 2012) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 22 May 2015

Post-medieval burial site, c. 1440–1660 AD; significant for its human remains and possible connection to the historic town of Athboy.

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