What is recorded here

Seven cremation pits marked a long line of death on a gentle slope in Ballybannon, preserving cordoned urns and bones dated from the early Bronze Age through the Iron Age. The cemetery sat beside ring-ditches, kilns and a possible Neolithic habitation site, suggesting one place kept returning across centuries. People may have tended that crest because the stream below and the open sky above made the boundary between the living and dead feel thin.

Excavated in advance of construction of the N9/N10 Kilcullen-Waterford Road (Excavation Licence number E2610). On a crest of a gentle SW facing slope, bounded by a stream to the S. Seven cremation pits were uncovered. One contained an upright cordoned urn. Radiocarbon dates from the early, middle and late Bronze Age and Iron Age were returned from the cremated bone. Found in association with four ring-ditches (CW012-147----, CW012-148----, CW012-149---- and CW012-150----), a possible Neolithic habitation site (CW012-133----) and two kilns (CW012-151---- and CW012-152----). (O' Connell, T. 2009, 17-20) Reference: O' Connell, T. J. 2009 N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford Scheme: Kilcullen to Powerstown. Archaeological Services Contract No. 4 - Resolution, Prumpelstown to Powerstown. Final Report on archaeological investigations at site E2610, in the townland of Ballybannon, Co. Carlow. Unpublished report, Headland Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd., Cork Compiled by: Claire Breen Date of upload: 10 November 2010

A Neolithic flat cemetery, dating to the 4th–3rd millennium BCE. Its significance lies in the presence of seven cremation pits, providing insight into early funerary practices in the region.

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