Burial ground in Carton Demesne

In June 2015, the National Monuments Service (NMS) was notified that human remains were uncovered on a development site at Carton Demesne. The site was inspected by Dr. Geraldine Stout of the NMS who identified at least four grave cuts in the SW quadrant of the construction site. In the immediate area of the cleared site there were numerous dark friable soil patches in the boulder clay which probably indicate further graves, suggesting that this was the location of an extensive burial ground that was likely to have extended beyond the area which had been uncovered. Human remains were uncovered during topsoil stripping for a single residence at Site 14, Temple Wood, Carton Demesne in 2015. In summary, topsoil had been removed to a depth of 0.40-0.46m across the foot print of the new house site and much of the area had been brought down to subsoil or boulder clay. In the south west corner of the construction site at least four grave cuts were identified as being cut into the boulder clay. These run in an east west axis concentrated in an area c. 10m square. The evidence suggested that there is an extensive burial ground on site which is likely to extend beyond the limits of the area uncovered to date. A limited programme of Archaeological Testing was subsequently undertaken under License No. 15E353. The initial programme of archaeological testing was carried out in three phases, as follows: 1. Four test trenches were excavated by machine to the east (T-1), south (T-2), west (T-3) and north (T-4) of the area in which burial was initially discovered (Cutting 1). The locations of the test trenches and extent of Cutting 1. All the test trenches were 1.9m wide. 2. The bases and sides of the test trenches were then cleaned and investigated by hand, as was Cutting 1. 3. All uncovered features and fragments of human remains were then plotted and photographed. The test-trenches (T14-1 to T14-4) were excavated in splits of c. 5cm depths in order to ensure that no damage is caused to any human remains that might be uncovered. All trenches were 1.9m wide and generally excavated to depths of 0.4 – 0.45m. The investigations were undertaken by an archaeological crew of two, including the licence holder and an osteoarchaeologist. Evidence for a possible enclosing feature/ditch was uncovered in Cutting 1, T14-1 and T14-2. In Cutting 1, the evidence suggests that this may have been truncated by a later drain feature. This feature may be associated with the planning of trees in this area of the demesne in the late 18th century, which was associated with paths and tracks. The enclosing feature appears to be 3.8 (T14-2) – 4.2m (T14-1) in width and its external edges are approximately 26.9m apart (N-S) based on the evidence from T14-2 and Cutting 1. The eastern extent of the feature was uncovered at a distance of 19.6m from the western commencement edge of T-1. However, no evidence for the feature was uncovered in T14-3 or T14-5, which were excavated to the west of Cutting 1, and consequently its east-west extent remains unknown. There was total of 14 locations where human bone was uncovered, although initial investigations indicate that some of these locations may be associated with disturbances. Only 9 of these (SK-A, SK-B, SK-C, SK-D, SK-E, SK-F, SK-G: Cutting 1; SK-K and SK-L: T-2) have associated discernible graves. Consequently, it is tentatively suggested that a total of 9 partial graves have been identified, 7 within the footprint of the proposed development in Site 14 (Cutting 1). The southern extent of the cemetery is located within Site 16 to the south but, based on the evidence from T14-2 and T16-2 to T16-6 outside the footprint of the proposed development within this site. There is no evidence that the cemetery extends into Site 12 or across the access road into Site 15. The lack of association with a church building, grave slabs, pottery, other artefacts or dedicative saints suggest that this is a secular cemetery of early medieval date (Byrne 2016). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details kindly provided by Hugh Carey Date of upload: 05 December 2018