Burial ground in Blessington Demesne

Situated on the grounds of the former Rectory to the immediate N, 310m to the NE of Blessington church and graveyard. Holy Well (WI005-026----) known as 'Toberanbrick' 200m to SE. Archaeological monitoring was carried out on 27th October 2020 by Grace Fegan of Shanarc Archaeology Ltd., prior to development works within the grounds of The Rectory (former), Kilbride Road, Blessington. The results of the excavation were described by Grace Fegan (2021) as follows; 'The development works comprised the stripping of topsoil in advance of the construction of housing under planning reference 20/108. Human remains in the form of one supine extended burial and one poorly preserved and truncated burial were identified during monitoring on Wednesday 28th October 2020. Osteoarchaeologist Dr Linda Lynch visited the site on Friday 30th October. The excavation area was defined and underwent full archaeological excavation under licence No. 20E0301 between 17th November and 8th December 2020. The site appears to be the remains of a medieval burial ground, which was greatly disturbed by later agricultural and domestic activity and also by industrial activity, associated perhaps with the construction of the Rectory in the late 19th century. The burial ground is not apparent in any available cartographic or documentary sources. However, there is a 13th century written reference to a parish church called Capella de Villa Cumyn, the location of which is uncertain. This church is believed to be located at the site of Scurlock’s Graveyard [WI005-027----] in the townland of Crosscoolharbour, to the north, but there is a possibility that the church was located much closer to the village of Blessington (C. Corlett, pers comm). Further documentary research will be required in order to explore the possible connection between the church site and the remains uncovered during this excavation. The preliminary results suggest an initial phase of formal E-W oriented burials and a later phase of more informal, mostly infant burials. However, further osteoarchaeological, dating and artefact analysis will be required in order to fully establish the phasing of activity on site' (Fegan 2021, 32). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Grace Fegan of Shanarc Archaeology Ltd. Date of upload: 15 June 2021