What is recorded here

In 1931, shifting sands on Inis Oírr uncovered an ancient graveyard quite close to the modern burial ground beside St Cavan's church. The sand later smothered the discovery again, erasing every visible trace and dragging the dead back into the island's memory. That graveyard may still lie beneath the modern graves, waiting for the next storm to reveal what the island keeps hiding.

Mason (1839, 200) recorded that two ‘ancient graveyards’ (see also GA120-005---) had been uncovered by shifting sands. This one, which was ‘quite close to the modern graveyard’ (GA120-007003-) associated with St Cavan’s church (GA120-007001-), was uncovered in 1931. No visible surface trace of it survives and it most likely was covered over again by the sand. Though unlocated, it is possible that this graveyard lies within the limits of the ‘modern’ graveyard. Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 25 January 2015

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