Ecclesiastical enclosure in Cuppanagh

Sections of curving field boundaries, indicated on the 1914 OS 6-inch map and also visible in an aerial photograph (ACAP, V 227/19-20) to S, NW and N of the graveyard (SL045-011002-), suggest the remains of an early ecclesiastical enclosure (diam. c. 120m NW-SE). The arc of a field boundary (Wth 1.5m; H 1m), described during a previous site inspection in 1993 (SMR (1989) file), extending south-westwards from the SE corner of the graveyard, has been levelled and is evident only as a band (Wth 4m) of yellow grass. The curving drystone field boundaries along the lakeshore to the SW and enclosing the field to the W of the graveyard at NW, are engulfed by dense scrub, as is a further curving field boundary on the N side of the road (on a NW-SE axis) which crosses the N half of the interior of the enclosure. A broad band (Wth c. 5m) of slightly raised ground, marked by a gentle W-facing slope, evident inside the E wall of the graveyard may also be part of the interior. The graveyard (SL045-011002-) and an associated church (SL045-011001-), and a leacht cuimhne (SL045-011004-) are all within the SE quadrant of this enclosure. A saint's stone (SL045-021----) associated with St Patrick lies c. 600m to the NNW. 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