G. Yd. — Rahan Demesne

This ecclesiastical complex consists of two churches (OF016-015001/010) and a possible tower house (OF016-015009-), with one church (OF016-015001-) in good condition and the other two buildings in ruins. One is presently used as a Church of Ireland church (OF016-015001-). The graveyard attached to the S of this church is enclosed a stone wall of 19th century date and contains many fine examples of 18th and 19th century headstones. Two fragments of a late medieval floriated graveslab with partial inscription were recently found in the graveyard (OF016-015002-). Testing was carried out under licence no. 04E0759 in advance of proposed drainage works in the graveyard located on the south side of St Carthage's Church, Rahan, Co. Offaly. The nave-and-chancel church is still used by the Church of Ireland and the interior of the church building is badly affected by damp, especially in the chancel area. Testing was carried out to assess the impact of these drainage works on any potential archaeological features and finds in the vicinity of the church. This involved the manual excavation of two trenches in the area of the graveyard adjacent to the south side of the church building, to ascertain the archaeological nature of the soil that has accumulated to a height of 1m against the external facade of the nave and chancel walls. There are a number of post-medieval grave markers visible in the vicinity of the south wall of the church and the test-trenches were laid out in order to avoid these. A number of east-west-orientated skeletons were uncovered following the removal of the topsoil layer in both test-trenches. These were all contained in unmarked graves with no visible traces of coffin remains; they were left in situ. Following consultation, it was agreed that no further excavation was required at this time, as the testing had confirmed that there were unmarked burials located in the vicinity of the area to be impacted on by the proposed drainage works (Excavations Bulletin 2004). Tony Cummins for Sheila Lane and Associates, AE House, Monahan Road, Cork. 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. Date of upload: 23 April 2009