Laghteyne Grave Yard, Cahernagarry, Co. Galway

Co. Galway |

Burial Grounds

Laghteyne Grave Yard, Cahernagarry, Co. Galway

On a low, much-quarried hummock in the undulating grassland of Cahernagarry, a small patch of ground holds the remains of children who, by the traditions of their time, could not be buried in consecrated soil.

The site is a cillín, the Irish term for an informal burial ground used for unbaptised infants and others excluded from Catholic churchyard burial, and it survives in a quiet, unenclosed L-shaped area measuring roughly nine metres by four metres, its graves marked by limestone blocks set into the earth and aligned east to west in the manner of Christian burial.

These informal burial grounds are scattered across Ireland in their thousands, often occupying liminal places: the edges of fields, the banks of rivers, old ring-fort interiors, or, as here, the remnant of a geological feature that quarrying has gradually eaten away. The reference recorded by O'Flanagan in 1927 places this site within a broader tradition of landscape use in County Galway that stretches back centuries. The choice of a hummock, a small rise in the ground, was not unusual; elevated or otherwise distinct landforms were often selected for these burials, perhaps because they were already understood as boundary places, neither fully in use nor fully abandoned. The quarrying that has encroached from the north-west is a reminder of how easily such sites are lost, their significance invisible to an industry that sees only the stone beneath.

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 Laghteyne Grave Yard, Cahernagarry, 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