Laghtanafoyna, Balrinnet, Co. Kildare
Co. Kildare |
Burial Grounds
In a flat stretch of pastureland in County Kildare, a low triangular earthwork sits quietly within the lines of later field boundaries, unremarkable to a passing eye but carrying a particular weight in local memory. The place is a cillin, the Irish term for an unconsecrated burial ground used for unbaptised infants, and according to local belief recorded as recently as 2002, it continues to be understood in that way. These sites are found across Ireland, positioned at the margins of parishes and consecrated ground, reflecting the theological position that children who died before baptism could not be buried in churchyards. The grief attached to such places tends to be largely unacknowledged in the formal historical record, which makes even sparse documentation significant.
The site takes a triangular form, with its apex pointing southward and its widest extent, around 22 metres, running along the northern edge. It stretches roughly 37 metres from north to south. A low scarp, between half a metre and a metre in height, defines the boundary, and the later field walls along the northern and eastern sides have effectively absorbed the older outline into the working landscape. The interior has been disturbed, apparently when vegetation was cleared at some point, and nothing in the way of grave markers survives above ground. The name Laghtanafoyna itself likely preserves older Irish elements; leacht, meaning a burial monument or commemorative heap of stones, appears frequently in placenames associated with ancient or informal interment sites.
