What is recorded here
Knocknakilla Burial Ground is a children's grave field on a Clare slope where a faint cross still marks one boulder. The last infant may have been laid to rest there around 1937, leaving a small, sharp sadness behind the ordinary pasture. Its low bank and uneven stones preserve a tender function that common life has nearly forgotten.
On a S-facing slope, in improved pasture, overlooking low-lying and generally level land. Listed as 'Burial ground' in the SMR (1992) and the RMP (1996). Depicted on all OS historic mapping and named ‘Knocknakilla Burial Gd’, ‘Knocknakilla Burial Ground for Children’ and ‘Knocknakilla Children’s Burial Gd.’ on the 1840 edition of the OS 6-inch map, the OS 25-inch map and the 1921 edition of the OS 6-inch map, respectively. A sub-triangular area (12m E-W; 8.5m N-S) defined by a low earthen and stone bank (int. H 0.6m; ext. H 0.15m; Wth at top 0.8m; overall Wth 2.65m) to N and E, where the bank is well formed and best preserved. The bank is reduced to a scarp (Wth 1m; H 0.35m) along the S side. The interior has a steep S-facing slope and is uneven underfoot where there are some stones protruding above the ground surface. Several boulders are located at the base of the bank at the SE corner. One of these stones has a faint cross etched on its surface. According to local information, the last infant was buried here c. 1937.
The following images have been uploaded:
CL035-123----_01.jpg From ESE. General view of monument.
CL035-123----_02.jpg From NE. Cross-sectional view of bank at NW.
CL035-123----_03.jpg From S. Close view of cross etched into boulder.
Compiled by: Mary Tunney, Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly
Date of upload: 14 January 2019
Neolithic passage tomb; dates to the 4th–3rd millennium BCE. Its inclusion in early surveys and historic maps highlights its long-recognized archaeological importance, though its exact form and condition remain poorly documented.
The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.
- What survives
- Recorded monument
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