Graveyard in Naas West

In 1995, archaeological testing (Licence no. 95E0279: www.excavations.ie) led in 2000 to archaeological monitoring and excavation (Licence nos. 01E0094, 00E0842 and 00E0849) in the vicinity of the Augustinian priory site (KD019-030010-). Archaeological excavation uncovered the remains of 81 skeletons, 26 of which were fully excavated and removed, with 55 being only partially uncovered. The burials were not distributed evenly over the burial area but occurred in localised concentrations, with the greatest density occurring in the south corner of the site. They were typically orientated in an east-west direction. Most were in unlined graves, but two stone-lined graves were found. The positioning of the skeletons suggested that the bodies were originally wrapped in shrouds. There was a general paucity of grave finds, apart from sherds of medieval pottery. A strategy was agreed with Dúchas for the preservation of the human remains in situ. It was concluded that the human remains were part of the graveyard of the 13th-century Augustinian priory. Further excavation (Licence no. 01E0094: www.excavations.ie) immediately north of the graveyard uncovered two main lines of field boundaries marked by the remains of ditches that produced large quantities of medieval pottery dating from the 13th and 14th c. They ran across the site with a broad east-west orientation, from the Sallins Road. Eleven rubbish and storage pits with frequent sherds of medieval pottery were excavated, along with eight modern pits with material remains dating from the 18th and 19th c. These were broadly positioned so as to be associated with settlement activity along the modern Sallins Road. Four stone-lined wells were excavated. All produced large quantities of medieval pottery. A silver penny dating from the early 14th century was found on top of one of them. The first well was constructed with unbonded limestone. Four steps were cut to the side of a circular stone-lined well, which was 1.57m deep. It measured 4.02m east-west by 2.09m. The second well was 5m to the west of this. It was stone-lined and was cut to a maximum depth of 1.91m. It measured 1.68m north-south by 1.65m. The water was accessed from the south-western corner, where there was a large flat stone in situ that looked like the core of a small platform. Across from the platform area the wall had the appearance of containing a recess, possibly for a shrine of some kind. Immediately to the west of this was a smaller well, circular in shape with a 2.3m-diameter cut and depth of 1.59m. The wall was 1.64m in diameter and 1.26m deep, with flat stones on the southern side possibly giving access. The fourth well was 10m to the south. It measured 3.12m north-east/south-west by 2.5m. Access was from the north-west, where two steps were cut into the natural, one of which showed evidence of being gritted with coarse pebbles. The stone-lined well was 1.29m in diameter with a depth of 1.4m. The pottery from all wells was broadly similar, being given a tentative 13th- and 14th-century date. It was noted that there was a higher proportion of exotic pottery in the well backfills than in the rubbish-pits. It is likely that the wells were deliberately backfilled or went out of use at the same time. A grave containing four individuals was found in the eastern part of the site, 6m from the Dublin Road. The cut was 1.53m north-east/south-west and 0.7m wide, with a depth of 0.58m. The bodies gave the appearance of having been thrown casually into the grave, rather than being placed in, either in coffins or shrouds. At least two individuals showed evidence of possible trauma to arm bones. The grave was c. 75m north-east of the graveyard found under the earlier test excavations, and so appeared to be on unconsecrated ground. This raises the possibility that these individuals were social outcasts of some kind (Leigh Fry 1999). Medieval pottery was found in the backfill. A layer of redeposited and badly fragmented human remains found over 25m north of the edge of the graveyard. They were spread over an area measuring 1.95m east-west by 1.63m, with a maximum depth of 0.35m, and were found in a layer of building rubble which may have come from the construction of the cottages along the Dublin Road. It is likely that the human remains were gathered up and deposited at this location during site clearance works for these cottages in the 19th c. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 10 June 2011