Burial in Moneycarroll

Three lintel-burials of possible 6th-7th century date were uncovered during construction works by Wicklow County Council on Thursday 25th March 2021. It was not possible to preserve the burials in situ, so preservation by record was the appropriate archaeological mitigation strategy in this area under Licence No 21E0208 by Yvonne Whitty of De Faoite Archaeology. The results of this excavation were summarised by Yvonne Whitty as follows; 'Excavation was completed between the 31st March and the 7th April 2021 under licence 21E0208 by the licence holder with the assistance of an archaeological supervisor Ivor Kenny. The development site is irregular in plan and is divided into two green areas by a road which leads into two housing developments Mountainview and Sycamore Drive. The south of the development site is bound by Rockview Close and to the west is an un-named road which leads into the village of Newtownmountkennedy. A large rock outcrop is located to the northwest of the burial area. The development is for Part VIII Approval for 22 Social Housing Units at Mountainview, Moneycarroll, Newtownmountkennedy, County Wicklow and all associated site works. The burials were located at the northeast end of the site at Unit 16, the foundation of this building would have impacted upon the burials. The site comprised three isolated lintel graves and preliminary analysis indicates that these were all females over the age of 35. However post excavation analysis is still ongoing and all results will be contained within a final report. They were located below what appears to be a redeposited natural C20 which was 0.42m in average thickness. There was no evidence of a mound in the north of west section face, however the area has been subject to significant disturbance as the Dublin Corporation watermain runs in the road adjacent the site. Burial 1 was the most southerly and was WNW to ESE aligned and the most poorly preserved of the three burials. The cut C3 was sub-rectilinear in plan and was a lintel grave with upright trimmed blue/grey slate stones lining the sides C12 and top of the grave-cut C9. Occasional round packing stones C12 were visible around the cut of the grave at the head of the grave and behind the side lintel stones on the north and south side of the grave cut. The foot of the grave was clearly defined with a slate stone and it was not clear if the top of the grave where the skull was also defined in a similar manner, however these may have been removed during site clearance works. The top of the grave was lined with five large lintel stone slabs, C9 which had collapsed in on top of the adult burial and it was unclear if this burial was shroud wrapped given the degree of preservation, however further osteological analysis is required. Preliminary analysis indicates that this burial was that of an adult female. It is also tentatively suggested that this burial had a stone placed on the upper left chest area, however this could also be a collapsed lintel stone. Burial 2 was positioned in between Burials 1 and 3 and was WNW to ESE aligned and similar in alignment to Burial 1. The cut C5 was sub-rectilinear in plan and was a lintel grave with trimmed blue/grey upright slate stones lining the sides C13 and also the top of the grave C10. The side stones at the southern side of the grave C13 had collapsed in revealing sub rounded packing stones C17 which lined the edge of the cut prior to the placement of the slate side stones. Both the foot and top of the grave were clearly defined with lintel stones, packing stone was also visible at the head of the grave. There was very little grave fill C6 surrounding Burial 2 indicating that the grave construction with the lintel stones formed a cavity which also aided in preservation of the burial which preliminary analysis suggests is that of a female. The hands were placed over the pelvis and the foot bones were located close together indicating that this burial was probably wrapped in a shroud prior to burial. Burial 3 was the furthest north of the three burials and was of a different alignment that the other burials which were WNW-ESE, Burial 3 was E-W aligned. It was also the best preserved of all three burials. The cut C7 was sub-rectilinear in plan and was a lintel grave with trimmed blue/grey slate stones C14 lining the sides of the grave-cut and also the top of the grave C11. The side stones C14 at the northern side of the grave had collapsed in revealing sub rounded packing stones C18 which lined the edge of the cut prior to the placement of the slate side stones. Both the foot and top of the grave were clearly defined with side stones C14. Packing stone C18 was also visible at the head of the grave. There was very little grave fill C8 surrounding Burial 3 indicating that the grave construction with the lintel stones formed a cavity which also aided in preservation of the burial as there was very little soil in the grave. Preliminary analysis suggests burial 3 is a female. The hands were placed over the pelvis and the feet were tightly placed together indicating that this burial was wrapped in a shroud prior to burial. The right leg of this burial was crossed over the left leg. Also the burial was laid diagonally within the grave cut perhaps to accommodate the body within the cut which may have been too small for the body' (Whitty 2021, 22-7). See attached images provided courtesy of Yvonne Whitty of De Faoite Archaeology Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Yvonne Whitty Date of upload: 15 June 2021