Cist in Rathbarran

Wood-Martin (1887-8, 270-72) described an urn, then in the museum of the Royal Irish Academy, which was found on the summit of an ancient rath (presumably SL025-071001-) in Rathbarran townland. The urn was discovered within a 'square coffer of flagstones placed on edge' and measured '43/4 inches [0.12m] high, 6 inches [0.15m] broad and 53/4 [0.14m] wide in the mouth' (ibid., 271-2). It was decorated all over, except for the base, with incised lines and 'enriched about the middle with five raised bands, more or less ornamented with chevrons, and wavy oblique lines' (ibid., 271). It contained cremated bones and a stone disc and a polished stone axehead was found with it. There are no visible remains of this cist. It is one of three cists known from Rathbarran townland (see SL025-051002- and SL025-151----). (Waddell 1990, 133; Ó Ríordáin and Waddell 1993, 131) 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

A cist burial associated with a ringfort (rath), likely dating to the Early Christian period; its significance lies in the preservation of funerary artifacts, reflecting burial practices of the period in the region.