Children's burial ground, Killola, Co. Galway

Co. Galway |

Burial Grounds

Children’s burial ground, Killola, Co. Galway

At the eastern edge of an early ecclesiastical enclosure in Killola, County Galway, a low, overgrown platform holds the remains of a children's burial ground.

These sites, known in Irish as cillíní, were used for centuries to inter unbaptised infants and others who, under Catholic practice, could not be buried in consecrated ground. They occupy a quietly ambiguous space in the Irish landscape, neither fully inside nor fully outside the Church's jurisdiction, often sited near ancient religious boundaries rather than in open fields.

The ground here appears on the second edition of the Ordnance Survey six-inch map, published in 1899, marked as an unenclosed, roughly D-shaped area measuring around twenty metres across. It sits within a larger early ecclesiastical enclosure, the kind of curving boundary that often preserves the footprint of an early medieval monastic or church site long after the buildings themselves have vanished. What remains visible today is the overgrown platform, partially concealed by vegetation, with numerous small upright stones breaking through the growth. At the western end, a lintelled grave survives, its covering stone still in place across the uprights, a construction type associated with early medieval burial in Ireland. Whether such a grave predates the cillín's use as a children's burial ground, or belongs to the same tradition, 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 Children’s burial ground, Killola, 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