What is recorded here
Inside the rath at Ballyheeragh, rows of low, uninscribed stones mark the graves of unbaptised babies. The eastern half holds dense clusters of these markers, while the western side hides smaller grass-covered bumps beneath the soil. This is not a grand cathedral of death but a quiet, crowded field where the smallest lives were laid to rest away from the main churchyard.
In a rath (MA119-050----).
According to local information, the rath was used for the burial of unbaptised babies. There is a dense concentration of low, uninscribed stone grave-markers in the E and SE of the rath interior, with some arranged in N−S or NE−SW rows, and a number of clustered arrangements of stones outline roughly square grave plots (max. dim. c. 7m). Fewer grave-markers are visible in the W half of the rath, but there are several small, grass-covered bumps which may be graves.
Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy
Date of upload: 23 August 2023
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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