Grave Yard

On the E side of Inis Ní, overlooking Cloonile Bay. Marked on the 1838 edition of the OS 6-inch map as a roughly subcircular graveyard (c. 30m NE-SW; c. 27m NE-SW) with a ‘St. Mathias’s Chapel’ (GA050-011001-) immediately outside its boundary at WSW. On the 1898-9 resurvey of the map both elements are incorporated into a larger graveyard, roughly trapezoidal in shape (c. 80m NE-SW; c. 77m NW-SE). Traces of the earlier burial area (40m N-S; 20m E-W), defined by a boundary wall constructed of large and small boulders, are visible in the E half of the graveyard in a slight hollow. It may mark the original monastic hermitage. The greatest concentration of burials occurs in its S half where rows of neat stone-lined graves with upright headstones are orientated E-W. A leacht (GA050-011003-) and its associated cross-inscribed pillar (GA050-011004-) are visible at SE. A low rough bolder wall divides this area and the N half is c. 1.5m lower. Fewer burials are visible in this section and they are of recent date. Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 12 June 2018

Christian burial ground, likely medieval in origin, associated with a chapel dedicated to Saint Mathias. Its location and early mapping suggest it was a place of local religious and community significance.