Cist in Killarecastle

Situated in a gently rounded gravelly knoll, in tillage. An enclosure (WM024-044----) lies c. 125m to NW. Monument described as a subsurface feature which was the subject of full excavation by John Sheehan in 1982, revealing a cist burial approx. 0.2-0.3m below the present ground surface: This is a short, slightly wedge-shaped stone-lined grave (Wth at N end 0.57m; Wth at S end 0.68m; L 0.8m N-S; D 0.55m) containing human remains. It was discovered when the capstone was dislodged during ploughing, exposing a void beneath. It is defined by a single piece of limestone on each of the four sides. Behind each of these side stones were horizontally laid stones designed to relieve the weight of the capstone and were further strengthened by the placing of cushion stones at each corner. The capstone was a limestone flag (dims. 1.3m N-S; 1m E-W; T 0.2m) which was found ex-situ after its recent exposure. The contents of the cist appear to have been disturbed prior to this, sometime in the post-medieval period. The cist had been constructed in an oval pit (max. Wth 1.8m E-W; D 0.75-0.85m) which had been excavated from a gravelly subsoil. Several larger stones had been backfilled into the pit to provide support to the side stones of the cist. There was no prepared floor i.e. paving or clay. The upper layer of the pit was disturbed during the recent exposure and contained several human bones. The lower layer was more consolidated and contained more human remains which were primarily intact. In the lower fill there were several small quartz pebbles, 17 rim and body sherds of Bronze Age pottery and one sherd of 17th century Cistercian ware. Excavation of the pit revealed a single waste piece of white, patinated flint flake. Analysis of the human remains by Professor C.A. Erskine, Department of Anatomy at Trinity College Dublin revealed that these were of two individuals. One was an adult male and the other of a child of indeterminate sex. Pottery analysis identified that the pot was of the Bowl Tradition of the Early Bronze Age. Despite only 25% of the whole pot surviving, there were enough rim sherds to confirm an overall rim diameter of 0.14m. See attached plan and cross-section of the cist and pit surveyed and drawn during the excavation by J. Sheehan in 1982. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 12 August 2019