What is recorded here

Kilcoran Rath hides a forgotten churchyard inside its circular mound, where human bones surfaced in 1889 despite the grave being absent from earlier maps. The southern division still holds dead men while the northern division keeps only a limestone marker and ghost-lines in dry grass. What was buried there stopped being remembered before it stopped existing, leaving the mound to swallow its own history under ordinary turf.

In undulating countryside. Not marked on the 1839 or 1908 eds OS 6-inch maps. Human bones were discovered in 1889 (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 341). Described by Carrigan as 'The church (LA028-057001-) of Kilcoran stood a quarter of a mile from Rathdowney, within what is now commonly known as "Kilcoran Rath". The rath (LA028-057003-) is a circular mound 65 yards in diameter, rising irregularly from 2 to 8 ft. in height, with an almost obliterated rampart, and the usual fosse. Running east and west, partly through the centre of the rath, there are traces of a curved earthen fence, which divided it into two almost equal parts. In the southern division human bones were dug up in 1889, and appears to have been the site of an ancient churchyard. The church stood in the northern division. Its walls have been gone for ages, but the foundation still marked by the withered grass in very dry summers, show that they were about 30 ft. long; a very large limestone marks the position of the west gable. The tradition of a church having been ever here has almost died out.' (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 341). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 December 2007

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