The Forgotten Cemetery: Ranelagh and its People
Channel: The Ulster Archaeological Society
Date: 2023-12-12

The previously unknown Medieval burial ground at Ranelagh was excavated in 2015-16 by IAC Ltd, under the direction of Shane Delaney, in advance of the development of the N61 Coolteige Road just outside Roscommon town. The site first came into existence in the fourth century as a simple defended farmstead, but over time it expanded considerably and served a variety of functions, including as a place of burial. The skeletal remains of over 600 individuals were recovered from this settlement cemetery and these were analysed at Queen’s University Belfast under the auspices of the Ranelagh Osteoarchaeology Project. The lecture will introduce the site at Ranelagh before focusing on what we have learned about the people who were interred there from the youngest to the oldest members of the community. It will explore the fundamental realities of life and death in Ireland at this time.

Eileen Murphy is Professor of Archaeology in the School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast, and a Vice-President of the Ulster Archaeological Society. Her research uses approaches from bioarchaeology and funerary archaeology to help further understanding of the lives of people in the past. In recent years, her work has particularly focused on individuals from Medieval Ireland and she is the co-author with Shane Delaney of The Forgotten Cemetery: Excavations at Ranelagh, Co. Roscommon (Dec 2022; freely available as an e-book at TII Heritage series)