What is recorded here

Caldragh means burial ground, and Ballinvally still carries that name in its fields. Two worn stones, one for John Bray and one for Pat Lynch dated 1774, were built into the bank like forgotten sentences in a wall. The field may have swallowed more names before the stones were reused, but the earth kept the shape of loss long after the people disappeared.

A field which was known as the Caldragh, meaning a burial ground, was reputed to have many burials and at least two worn gravestones were incorporated into the field banks. One commemorated John Bray and the other Pat Lynch with a date 1774. The location is recorded on a field map of the Archaeological Survey of Ireland, and the details were recorded in the Schools manuscripts of the Irish Folklore Commission (vol. 716, P 58), for which see this web-page accessed on 03/03/2017 http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5009014/4977180 According to the Field Names of Meath Project, for which see this web-page accessed on 05/10/2018 http://www.meathfieldnames.com/meath-fieldnames-fullscreen.html there is no known name for this field and the Caldragh in Ballinvally is not known. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revised upload: 1 November, 2018

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