Cloonakille Gave Yard, Cloonakille, Co. Roscommon

Co. Roscommon |

Burial Grounds

Cloonakille Gave Yard, Cloonakille, Co. Roscommon

In the low-lying fields of County Roscommon, a small graveyard sits on a slight rise above the surrounding landscape, its modest elevation just enough to lift it clear of the flat terrain that stretches away on all sides.

The site is compact, a rectangular enclosure measuring roughly 25 metres north to south and 20 metres east to west, its boundary defined by masonry walls. A ruined church occupies the north-east angle of the enclosure, as was common in early Irish ecclesiastical layouts where the church and its associated burial ground formed a single, walled complex. About 70 metres to the south, the Cross river runs west to east, and it is easy to imagine the original founders of this place choosing the slight elevation precisely to stay clear of the river's reach.

What makes the site quietly remarkable is the presence, or former presence, of a bullaun stone cut into bedrock approximately 20 metres south-west of the graveyard boundary. Bullaun stones are boulders or outcrops of rock into which one or more rounded depressions have been deliberately carved, most likely for grinding or ritual use, and they are closely associated with early Christian and pre-Christian sacred sites across Ireland. This particular example is no longer visible above ground, having been lost to view at some point, though it remains on record as a distinct monument. The fact that it was cut directly into bedrock rather than into a loose boulder is a detail worth noting, suggesting the carving was always fixed to this specific spot, rooted in the landscape rather than portable.

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Pete F
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