Burial, Newcastle, Co. Galway

Co. Galway |

Burial Sites

Burial, Newcastle, Co. Galway

In a stretch of pastureland in County Galway, there is a low earthen mound so slight it barely registers as a feature of the landscape, measuring roughly three metres by two, and rising only about twenty centimetres from the ground.

Beneath it, or so local tradition holds, a body was once laid under a large stone slab, accompanied by candlesticks, and believed to be that of a priest. The remains were later moved and reinterred at Kilconnell Abbey, a Franciscan friary a few kilometres away that has served as a burial place for local families for centuries. What lingers on the surface is the faint impression of something that was disturbed, reused, and only partially remembered.

The site came to wider attention, indirectly, through a list compiled by a Mr J. R. Wade and forwarded to the National Museum of Ireland in 1937. Wade had catalogued monumental stones observed between Aughrim and Killagh, and item number 79 on his list referred to a cist, a type of prehistoric stone-lined grave, that had been found and destroyed sometime around 1933 or 1934. Most of the stones Wade documented turned out to be erratics, boulders deposited by glacial movement with no archaeological significance. When the site was inspected in 1985, the cist itself was long gone, but the low mound remained, suggesting the ground had been disturbed more than once and that its history layered at least two distinct episodes of burial, one prehistoric and one far more recent in religious and cultural terms.

The candlesticks accompanying the body hint at a post-Reformation or Penal-era burial, a period when Catholic clergy in Ireland were sometimes interred quietly and without formal ceremony, away from consecrated ground. The subsequent removal to Kilconnell Abbey, if the local account is accurate, suggests the priest was eventually afforded a more proper resting place, though when that reinterment occurred is not recorded.

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, Newcastle, Co. Galway. 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