Children's burial ground, Muckloon, Co. Galway

Co. Galway |

Burial Grounds

Children’s burial ground, Muckloon, Co. Galway

On the summit of a hill in Muckloon, an almost perfectly square patch of ground holds rows of limestone grave-markers, two of them still bearing inscriptions, all aligned northeast to southwest.

There is no enclosing wall, no gate, no formal boundary of any kind, just open grassland giving way to the quiet geometry of the dead. A lone tree grows at the highest point, just to the south-southwest of the burial area, and it is probably the most visible landmark for anyone approaching across the surrounding fields.

This is a cillín, or in its Irish name here, Lisín na bPáistí, roughly meaning the little enclosure of the children. The name was recorded by O'Flanagan as early as 1927. Cilliní were informal burial grounds used, particularly from the medieval period through to the twentieth century, for those who could not be interred in consecrated ground under Catholic practice: unbaptised infants above all, but sometimes also strangers, suicides, or those who died outside the sacraments. They are among the more quietly affecting features of the Irish landscape, occupying liminal spots such as hilltops, old boundaries, or the edges of townlands. Muckloon's example is roughly thirteen and a half metres across in both directions, giving it that near-square footprint, and while it survives in fair condition, there is evidence of bulldozing at its northeastern corner, a reminder of how vulnerable these unprotected sites remain.

The grave-markers are arranged in rows, which suggests a degree of communal organisation and ongoing use over time, rather than ad hoc burial. Two of the limestone markers carry inscriptions, though what those inscriptions say is not recorded in available sources. The site sits in open grassland and the hilltop position, with its solitary tree, gives it a quality that is easier to feel than to describe.

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