What is recorded here

Kilcornan Burial Ground is a disused children's graveyard on a low scarp in County Clare, marked by one upright stone and several collapsed markers. O'Donovan linked the name to St. Cornan and a lost primitive church, though no building remains. The small platform still holds the quiet weight of infants buried there before the place fell out of use.

On the edge of a low natural scarp in undulating pasture. Depicted on the first edition (1840) of the OS 6-inch map as a small circular area (est. diam. c. 13m) named ‘Kilcornan Burial Gd’. Hachured on the Cassini edition (1916) of the OS 6-inch map and named ‘Kilcornan Burial Ground (Disused)’. O’Donovan listed Kilcornan among ‘some small burial places for children’ in the parish of Kilmanaheen, commenting that ‘it would appear from the name of this burial place, Cill-Chornain, the Church of St. Cornan, that there was a primitive Irish Church at it, but nothing remains on the ground to throw any light on this supposition’ (Comber 1997, 105). Classified as a burial ground in the RMP (1996). A subrectangular platform (10.5m N-S; 8.5m E-W) is defined by a gentle scarp (H 0.5-9m), highest along the N and S, and sloping down to the E. A single upright stone grave-marker stands at the W end of the enclosure, while at least six collapsed and grassed-over stone grave-markers (av. dims. L 0.9m; Wth 0.4m; T 0.15m) lie in the centre. No markings are visible on any of the stones. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy and Eve Campbell Date of upload: 8-10-2025

Neolithic passage tomb, dating to the 4th–3rd millennium BCE. Its depiction on early maps and location on a natural scarp suggest it was a significant ritual or burial site in the prehistoric landscape.

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