Burial Ground for Children, Cappafeean, Co. Clare

Co. Clare |

Burial Grounds

Burial Ground for Children, Cappafeean, Co. Clare

On a north-south ridge in Cappafeean, County Clare, there is a circular patch of grass enclosed by a kerb of twenty-three stones.

No grave-markers survive. Nothing announces what this place once was, or who was laid to rest here. That absence is, in its own way, the whole story.

This is a cillín, a type of informal burial ground once used across Ireland for those who, under Catholic ecclesiastical practice, could not be interred in consecrated ground. Unbaptised infants were the most common occupants, though suicides, strangers, and others excluded from the parish churchyard were sometimes buried in these places too. The site at Cappafeean is a roughly circular, grass-covered enclosure measuring around twenty metres across its longer axis, defined by a kerb of twenty-three stones ranging from modest slabs to uprights nearly a metre in height. Traces of a perimeter boundary survive in places, suggesting the space was once more clearly delineated than it now appears. The site has suffered damage over time, and whatever grave-markers may once have stood here are gone.

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 Ground for Children, Cappafeean, Co. Clare. 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