What is recorded here

Grave Yard is a disused children's burial ground on a steep Mayo hillside, marked on maps since 1838 and holding a crude altar with a cross-inscribed stone. It is a small triangular place where field boundaries and a stream enclose graves marked by slabs, boulders and rough square settings. The children may have belonged to nearby hill farms, their lives cut short by fever, birth or mountain weather, while adults continued working the same harsh land.

Situated on a steep SW facing hillside, in rough mountainous terrain. This children’s burial ground is indicated on the 1838 OS 6-inch map as ‘Grave Yard’ and on the 1921 edition as ‘Grave Yd. (Disused)’. It consists of roughly triangular-shaped area (14.3m NE-SW; 12.3m NW-SE) bordered by field boundaries from WSW−ESE and by a stream from ESE−S. In the interior there is a crude altar (027-001002-) at the NNW, and numerous graves marked by slabs, boulders and roughly square stone settings. Aldridge (1969, 86) noted a cross-inscribed stone (MA027-001003-) on the altar. Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy and Paddy O’Donovan Date of upload: 12 December 2017

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.