What is recorded here

Quarry teeth ripped open the ridge in 1968, dragging a forgotten stone box into the daylight before swallowing it again. The cist lay empty except for animal bones scattered in a refilled pit above its north end, suggesting hands had pried it open long before the machines arrived. It vanished without a trace, leaving only the shape of its loss carved into the memory of Johnstown.

On a ridge, on or close to the site of a windmill (GA043-093----). Discovered in 1968 in a sand quarry. A rectangular cist (L >1.1m, Wth 0.75m), its long axis running NNE-SSW, was accidentally exposed in the face of the quarry. It comprised two stones (H c. 0.35m) on W side, and a very low end-stone (H 0.15m) at N end. Only one stone survived on E side and S end had already fallen away. The N end had previously been disturbed by a pit dug into it from above. This had been refilled with small rounded stones amongst which a number of animal bones were found. The cist itself contained nothing. Subsequently destroyed by quarrying: no trace survives (Topgr. Files, NMI). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. II - North Galway'. Compiled by Olive Alcock, Kathy de hÓra and Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). Date of upload: 05 August 2010

A rectangular cist, likely dating to the Early Christian or early medieval period, used for inhumation burial. Its location near a former windmill and on a prominent ridge may indicate a connection to earlier ritual or settlement activity in the area.

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