Cillin

Househunter16

Hi, I'm wondering if there is anyway you would be able to identify if there was a cillin an your land,are they as identifiably as a ring fort, thanks

slowburner

Househunter16 wrote: »

Hi, I'm wondering if there is anyway you would be able to identify if there was a cillin an your land,are they as identifiably as a ring fort, thanks

Cillíní are often associated with ringforts. People knew of these special places, and probably wanted to see their children given some sort of a chance at the afterlife. If consecrated ground was not available from the established church, the next best thing was the other-worldly 'fairy fort'.

You can check if the ringfort is listed on the SMR. There are links in the stickies.

mocmo

You wouldn't really be able to visually identify a cillín the way you would a ringfort and they do occur in other places. This paper has a good summary of the type locations where they are found.

"Numerous types of locations were chosen for the placement of cilliní. Land located directly outside of church grounds and graveyards, often along boundary walls, was sometimes set aside for individual or mass infant burials. Place boundaries, cross-roads, fields, the shores of water bodies, barren land, and aesthetically striking places such as cliff-sides were also common cilliní locations [...]. A significant number of cilliní were also constructed at, near, or inside pre-existing monuments, constructions, and places of past use that were abandoned or in ruins at the time of cilliní construction. In County Kerry [...] nearly half of all the cilliní identified in the county were associated with past sites [...] Locations for cilliní associated with past monuments and constructions include early ecclesiastical enclosures, medieval churches, holy wells, cross slabs, shrines, ringforts, cahers, tower houses, fulacth fiadh, and megaliths [...]These range from historic to prehistoric, and pagan to disused Christian sites."

https://cola.unh.edu/sites/cola.unh.edu/files/student-journals/spectrumFall2012_Pankey.pdf

If your land is in a townland called Killeen or a similar derivative there's a good chance there is one.

goose2005

http://maps.osi.ie will bring up a map of ireland, then click "Historic 6"" once you find your land. The label "Burial Ground" or "Children's Burial Ground" will be there.