What is recorded here

Two shale-lined cists held Early Christian bodies in Dromiskin, one man facing east with a bronze pin nested inside leather and wood, the other woman facing west. They lay two metres deep, perhaps beneath a forgotten mound, waiting for the nineteenth century to break the silence. The small box beside the man suggests care, pride or love, while the woman’s opposite heading invites a myth about two people refusing to look the same way even in death.

The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007 Two long cists built of small slabs of local shale were discovered in the nineteenth century. They were found at a depth of 2m below ground surface which suggests some form of earthwork overlay them. Both cists were aligned E-W, the first (LH012-047----) containing an extended inhumation with the skull at the E end. Beside the skull was a small sandstone box containing a leather-covered wooden box. Inside this was part of a small bronze ring-headed pin and charcoal. The second cist (LH012-089----) contained the extended skeleton of a female with head to W. Both cists can be assigned to the Early Christian period. (CLAJ 1942, 133-7)

Slab-lined burial in Dromiskin is a Bronze Age cist burial, typically characterized by stone slabs forming a small burial chamber. Its significance lies in contributing to the understanding of early burial practices and settlement patterns in eastern Ireland during the Bronze Age.

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