What is recorded here

Assolas in County Cork held small urns of burnt human bones inside stone heaps, a brutal but careful way to keep the dead when fields and roads were being born. Smith wrote about the discovery in 1750, yet the exact spot has vanished, leaving only the idea of heat, clay and memory. The living may have believed fire cleaned the skeleton before the urn gave it a final shape, turning loss into something that could be carried or buried again.

Smith (1750, vol. 2, 411) recorded 'some kerns or heaps of stone' discovered near Assolas 'some years ago' with a number of small urns containing burnt human bones. Exact location not known. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.