Ancient Burying Ground, Annahean, Co. Monaghan

Co. Monaghan |

Ecclesiastical Sites

Ancient Burying Ground, Annahean, Co. Monaghan

A site called an ancient burying ground, yet with no evidence of burials and no local memory of any, is already an odd thing.

The D-shaped enclosure at Annahean, known locally as Doileana, sits on a slight rise in an undulating stretch of south Monaghan countryside, its grass-covered interior ringed by a low earthen bank and an overgrown scarp. Surveyors working from the 1834 Ordnance Survey six-inch map could see the full extent of the enclosure clearly enough to label it in gothic lettering, but what it actually contained, or commemorated, has never been established.

The area carries older associations. A place called Eanach Chonglais, identified with nearby Killaney, appears in the Tripartite Life of St Patrick, a medieval text generally treated as historically unreliable. According to that account, Patrick passed through here on the road between Armagh and Meath, failed entirely to convert the local population, and was fortunate to leave unharmed. Conversion, if it came at all, was presumably the work of St Ultán of Ardbraccan, who became the medieval patron of the parish, though no record of his activity in the area survives. What gives Doileana its particular character is the physical evidence found here in 1940 and again in 1984: a crude cross-slab carved with a ringed cross in relief, and two bullaun stones. Bullaun stones are boulders or slabs with one or more cup-shaped hollows ground into them, and they appear frequently at early ecclesiastical sites across Ireland, often associated with ritual or curative use. When the site was visited in 2016, none of these objects could be located, though they are thought to be somewhere within the now heavily overgrown perimeter bank, absorbed into the vegetation rather than removed.

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 Ancient Burying Ground, Annahean, Co. Monaghan. 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