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Cabry Four-Cist Cemetery

Flat cemetery

What is recorded here

Cabry Four-Cist Cemetery holds four buried chambers inside a gravel ridge above Lough Foyle. The dead were placed beneath an open ridge instead of a raised mound, trusting the ground and the view to keep them company. That much is known; the rest belongs to imagination. Perhaps they chose the ridge because the water could be seen from within the grave, or because the gravel drained clean and the dead would not sit in mud. Either way, the cemetery remains flat and exposed, marking death as a continuation of the landscape rather than a hole cut into it.
Four cists were reported to have been found here in a gravel ridge overlooking Lough Foyle. (NMI) The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated. Date of upload: 22 September 2008
A four-cist cemetery, likely dating to the Early Christian or medieval period, indicating a small burial site with possible local significance. Its location on a gravel ridge overlooking Lough Foyle suggests a strategic or ceremonial position.

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

What survives
Recorded monument

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