Childrens Burial Ground

Located at the S end of a small N-S ridge. At the centre of the early church site (MO008-011----) is a rectangular grass-covered area (dims c. 20m NE-SW: c. 15m NW-SE) defined by field walls at NW and SW and occasional stones on the line of the perimeter elsewhere. This is the burial ground that was thought to have been used exclusively for children after c. 1800 (Smyth 1953, 63) but there are no grave-markers. A shallow drainage trench dug across it N-S during 1983 unearthed bones and a fragment of a decorated shaft of a high cross (MO008-011003-) that is now in the County Monaghan Museum, but two bullaun stones (MO0008-011004-) and the base of a cross (MO008-011005-) are missing from the burial ground. (Brindley 1988, 49-50) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Monaghan' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986). Revised by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 30 August 2017