Burial, Carrowmore, Co. Mayo

Co. Mayo |

Burial Sites

Burial, Carrowmore, Co. Mayo

Tucked into the south-western quadrant of an earthen ringfort in Carrowmore, County Mayo, there is a grave that seems to have simply appeared between one map survey and the next.

The 1838 Ordnance Survey six-inch sheet records nothing at this spot, yet by 1915 the same cartographers marked it plainly as a grave. Whatever was placed here, it arrived, or was acknowledged, sometime in that long intervening stretch.

The grave is rectangular, measuring roughly 4.5 metres along its north-west to south-east axis and 3.55 metres across, and it sits close to the inner edge of the rath's enclosing bank. A rath, to use the older term, is a roughly circular earthwork enclosure, typically of early medieval Irish origin, defined by one or more raised banks and ditches. The grave's perimeter is neatly formed by a low dry-stone limestone wall, well built despite its modest dimensions, standing only about 0.2 metres high and 0.6 metres wide. The surface within is scattered with loose stone, giving it a quiet, unfinished quality, as though the marking of the ground mattered more than any permanent monument above it. The choice to inter someone inside an older enclosure was not unusual in rural Ireland; raths accumulated layers of meaning over centuries, and the ground they enclosed was often regarded as set apart, neither wholly secular nor formally consecrated.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Burial, Carrowmore, Co. Mayo. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement