Graveyard in Kilmeage

In 2006, archaeological monitoring (Licence No. 06E1105: www.excavations.ie) was undertaken in the grounds of the Church of Ireland church as part of an overall conservation project. Phase 1 of this project included the insertion of rain/surface water drainage along the southern and western sides of the church, and required the excavation of trenches in the immediate area of the existing graveyard. Historical sources indicate the 18th-century church may have been constructed on an earlier graveyard, and it is recorded that skeletal remains were encountered during building construction across the road to the east of the churchyard. All ground-reduction works were monitored and no features of archaeological interest were uncovered. However, a total of 57 fragments of human bone were recovered, all from disturbed contexts, largely from the southern backfilled foundation trench of the existing church and in the western area of the churchyard. Given that some were recovered from a foundation fill, however, there is a possibility that the fill may be associated with a pre-18th-century burial-ground. However, without a detailed archaeological investigation of other areas of the site, such a possibility must be deemed as speculative at the moment. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 10 June 2011