Grave yard — Durrow Demesne

National Monument No. 313. A sixth century monastery was founded at Durrow reputedly by Colum Cille [of the church] who died in 597 and whose feastday is celebrated on the 9th of June (Ó Riain 2011, 213-14). This rectangular shaped graveyard encloses many headstones belonging to the 18th and 19th century and unmarked headstones of unknown date. The western wall has three early Christian cross-slabs (OF009-005011-; 005015-/ 005016-) attached to it along with a fragment of a high cross (OF009-005006-). The C of I church (OF009-005013-) is located in the centre of the graveyard. Bishop Dopping’s Visitation Book of 1682-85 described the churchyard at Durrow as at that time enclosed or ‘fenced’ in by a stone wall (Ellison 1975, 5), however the present graveyard wall appears to date from the 19th rather than the 17th century. The high cross (OF009-005006-) has been moved from the graveyard and is now housed inside the C of I church which has been recently conserved by the OPW. The mullion (H 0.53m) of a twin-light window of late medieval date can be seen in the NW quadrant of the graveyard. The mullion has a glazing groove (Wth 0.01m) on both sides, this stone probably came from the medieval church of Durrow. The hood moulding (diam. 0.66m; H 0.25m) of a narrow single-light (Wth 0.11m) round headed window has been inserted into the centre of the W graveyard wall. The hood moulding has terminals decorated with a four leaf floral motif, one of which no longer survives. In 2006 limited excavations were undertaken by Tracy Collins of Aegis Archaeology Ltd at Durrow under licence No. CO02, E3161, as part of the ongoing conservation works at the national monument, on behalf of the OPW. Three areas were investigated. Two were dug around the church (OF009-005013-) in order to facilitate the rendering of the structure and ducting. The third area was around where the high cross (OF009-005010-) had stood. (It was moved for conservation reasons inside the church structure.) Nothing of an archaeological nature was discovered in the first two areas; two skeletons were left preserved in situ. An area around where the cross had stood measuring 5m by 5m was opened to address the following research questions: Was the cross in its original position? What was it sitting on? Was there an earlier cross? Further information was required on the context of a cross slab excavated by De Paor in 1954: did it cover a grave, for instance? The excavation around the cross site showed that burial had occurred to the north, south and east of the cross base. Seventeen individuals were excavated, along with much disarticulated remains. Initial examination suggests that all the burials were late in date, probably none earlier than the 18th century. The cross appears to have been in its original (early medieval) position, in that all burials respected the location of the cross base. The cross rested on a layer of redeposited boulder clay, which contained a few fragments of animal bone. There was no evidence of an earlier timber cross at this location, nor was there any evidence of burial beneath the cross. The excavation results would suggest that the cross slab found by De Paor did not cover a specific grave but may have been placed to the east of the cross in order to ‘close’ that area from any further burial – perhaps placed there in the 19th century. Finds from the excavation included coffin nails and fittings, holy medals and a few shroud pins. Nothing of clearly early medieval date was recovered. A series of radiocarbon dates is proposed for the site, including the animal bone fragments recovered from beneath the cross base, which should provide a firm sequence for burial at the site and a date for the redeposited layer beneath the cross (Collins 2009, 449). Further limited archaeological investigations were undertaken by Tracy Collins of Aegis Archaeology Ltd. under licence No. E3161 at Durrow as part of the ongoing conservation works at the National Monument on behalf of the OPW (Collins 2009, 449). Two trenches, measuring some 200m in length, 0.5m in depth and 0.5m in width, were excavated by mini-digger at either side of the avenue to Durrow House. Approximately half of the avenue’s length is within the zone of archaeological potential for the complex. These trenches are proposed for future service conduits for the church structure which now houses the high cross. The trenches were sealed with varying modern stony surfaces for the avenue, which was underlain by the natural parent material of reddish-orange/brown compacted sandy clay. According to aerial photographic evidence for the site, the avenue bisects a circular enclosing element for the early medieval monastery. However, the two trenches dug did not reveal any information on this element. It is likely that this feature does remain subsurface and the depth of the trenches dug did not reach it. Human remains were located at the western end of the southern trench. They were located outside the current graveyard, though inside the likely enclosing element of the monastery. Furthermore they lay to the north-east of a high cross base, locally known as the ‘socket stone’. The human remains were examined in situ and found to be previously disturbed, though likely to have been articulated when buried. The remains were orientated east–west with the heads to the west, in the Christian tradition. The minimum number of individuals was estimated at three adults. It was agreed that these remains could be left in situ, protected under the proposed conduit route. A short trench was dug across the avenue at its western end to connect the two trenches with service trenches dug in the previous season. All trenches were then lined with plastic and backfilled. During the winter of 2006, a tree fall occurred immediately outside and to the north-west of the graveyard. When the area was inspected it was found that human bone had been exposed. During this season’s works, this exposed area plus the tree root ball itself were investigated. A large quantity of human bone was revealed. Upon examination it was found that most of this human bone was disarticulated and that the root action of the tree had further disturbed the remains. The human bone which remained in the ground was recorded and preserved in situ. The human bone and soil which had been entangled in the tree roots was excavated and retained for further study (Collins 2010, 402). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by Caimin O'Brien Date of upload/revision: 08 November 2011