Burial ground in Ballicknahee

In 1997 several burials were unearthed by landowner Mr John Wyer while extracting gravel from a ridge that crossed his land. The farmer had opened up a large hole measuring 20m x 20m to a depth of between 4-5m. The burials were found in the W quadrant of this opening. The skeletons all came from this area and had been placed in shallow graves that were barely cut into the gravel. The partial remains of one inhumation which appeared to be extended in a north-east to south-west direction was visible still in situ just at the west edge of the hole. The remains found consisted of at least seven individuals and are likely to date from the pre-Christian or Early Christian period. There were no signs that these burials came from stone cists and the partial remains exposed near the west end would seem to represent an extended inhumation in a simple pit orientated north-east south-west. The remains discovered probably represent part of a pre-Christian or Early Christian cemetery (Murphy Unpublished report 1997). Following an initial site inspection a limited rescue excavation was carried out in1998 under licence no. 98E0286 Ballicknahee townland near Clara, Co. Offaly, following the discovery of several burials during gravel extraction from an esker ridge. The excavation took place to allow the sides of the quarry to be graded back and thereby stabilise the surrounding ground to protect further burials from collapsing into the quarry. There had been no previous indication of burials on the site. An area surrounding the top of the quarry was chosen for excavation. The remains of at least seventeen individuals were recovered, most of which had been disturbed by the machine during the extraction of the gravel from the esker ridge. All of the remains were recovered at a depth of c. 0.4m below modern ground level; however, only one of the burials (Burial 2) was undisturbed. This was orientated north-east to south-west and was placed in a shallow, simple grave cut. Of the seventeen individuals recovered, thirteen were adults and four were juveniles. Only seven of the individuals could be sexed, five of which were male and two female. The complete female burial (Burial 2) was 40-55 years at time of death. There was also at least one young adult aged 18-21 years and a juvenile aged 14-16 years among the disarticulated remains. No finds were recovered that would give any indication of date, and it was recommended that the site be entered in the Register of Historic Monuments as there was a high potential for further burials being uncovered. All of the burials appear to have been interred in simple pits and consisted entirely of extended inhumations (Excavations Bulletin 1998, 256). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien. Date of upload: 23 May 2011