Grave Yard — Carrowntemple

In the centre of an ecclesiastical enclosure (SL044-056006-), on the N side of a road. A roughly rectangular graveyard (c. 30m N-S; c. 25m E-W) enclosed by a field boundary on the W side and by the remnants of a boundary wall on the N side; the E and S sides are defined by a stone-faced scarped edge overlooking a 1960s extension. The entrance gate is at the W end of the S side. The interior is mostly under grass but the N end is densely covered by scrub. The graveyard contains many 19th- and 20th-century graves and lines of low uninscribed grave-markers. Fragments of a quernstone (diam. c. 0.35m) lie in the SE corner. In the centre are the fragmentary remains of the medieval parish church of Kilfree (SL044-056001-). Thirteen cross-slabs (SL044-056004-) and a slab rough-out were found in various locations in the graveyard. Replicas of 12 of the cross-slabs have been erected along the stone-faced scarp on the S side. Fragments of quernstones, metal slag and a hammer stone which were found in the graveyard are in the NMI (pers. comm. M. A. Timoney). There is a souterrain (SL044-056003-) c. 20m to the NW and a second souterrain (SL044-056007-) c. 150m to the W. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005). Date of upload: 18 January 2008