New statue commemorates people of the ‘forgotten cemetery'

A new statue has been put in place to commemorate the people of the so called ‘forgotten cemetery’, which was rediscovered during an archaeological dig.

The N61 Coolteige Road Project was initiated to straighten, and make safer, a stretch of road just north of Roscommon Town.

An archaeological assessment before the road works began uncovered a previously unknown archaeological site consisting of an enclosed settlement and burial ground near the summit of a low hill in Ranelagh Townland, just north of Roscommon town. Full excavation of the Ranelagh site. commenced on October 15th, 2015, and was completed on October 28th, 2016.

The cemetery contained 557 intact burials and another potential 108. Extensive radiocarbon dating was carried out of the burials and found that the majority of the burials extended from the 4th century to the 13th century. The earliest in situ burial discovered at the site was that of an older adult female who dated to AD 428 to 601. The latest burial comprised of a baby dating to 1463 to 1641 AD. The majority of the remains date to the early medieval period – AD 640 – 1020.

On Thursday, December 21st ‘The Souls Of Ranelagh’ by renowned Roscommon sculptor Mark Feeley was erected on a mound on the new roundabout on the N61 just outside Roscommon Town. The monument commemorates, depicts, and represents the forgotten people of the Ranelagh graveyard, which was excavated during the archaeological dig in 2015/2016, and their long-forgotten story.

The Roscommon Town Team explained that the stone used in the monument was taken from a significant depth from Lecarrow Quarries, to signify the monument's connection with the county and its people. The back of the sculpture is also covered with amazing fossils, millions of years old.

It features a Celtic cross, representing the transition from Paganism to Christianity during the lifetime of the site at Ranelagh.

“It is also a religious memorial to the people who were buried there, affording them dignity in their death and acknowledging their existence,” said Marie Gillooly on behalf of Roscommon Town Team sub-committee.

A local historian and tour guide, Marie has been a passionate advocate for commemorating the site and its people.

The sculpture also features the ‘Warrior Woman’, symbolic of all the invading races that attacked, and often settled in Ireland in the past.

“She represents the Anglo- Saxons, the Normans, the Vikings and any other invading force that has settled here in years gone by,” she said.

It also highlighted a specific person within the archaeological find. The analysis of an older female's remains found on the site shows that she, or her immediate ancestors, were migrants to Ireland. She had no other relatives in the Ranelagh area, and she exhibited links with the Anglo-Saxon population in Britain. Some of her ancestry profile has been previously observed in Viking period burials in Yorkshire, and analysis of her remains indicated that she grew up in an industrialised, urban environment.

Research also indicated that she had “red hair, pale to intermediate skin tone and brown or hazel eye colour”.

“This description of this female fits perfectly with what Mark has created. One wonders how she ended up buried in Ranelagh, and how did she settle here, obviously living into old age,” said the Town Team.

“If you continue our migrant settling history and narrative into this century, she can also represent our immigrants in today’s Ireland, integrating into our society as previous immigrants did. Obviously, they have not invaded our country – they have adopted it as their home – she represents them settling here and making it their home as she obviously did.” The Warrior Woman’s sword is pointed into the earth. The blade has a 'bloodline' at its centre, which was designed to allow blood to flow off during battle.

“However, in this sculpture the blood line represents her bloodline and ancestry flowing back into the earth of Ranelagh where her descendants are still probably in residence to this day.

“This female figure also represents the longevity of this forgotten cemetery here in Ranelagh – in that the burial of men ceased in the 9th century, while the burial of women continued into the 14th century, some 500 years later. Furthermore, approximately 2/3 of the remains found on site are females, so women are very highly represented on the site.” As well as the Warrior Woman, the sculpture also features a life-sized farmer, who represents the farming community that lived in the ring forts surrounding this site and who used it as a regional administrative centre.

“He also represents the males that were buried in this forgotten cemetery,” Ms Gillooly said.

“He is holding a spear, which represents one of the artefacts found on the site – the only single weapon found - a socketed iron spearhead. He is depicted as a strong man, indicating the strength needed to farm completely manually during this time. Most males would have been involved in heavy physical labour from adolescence.” The third figure in the sculpture is poignantly a child’s face, representing the children found at ‘the forgotten cemetery’.

“Like the farmer, the child is coming out of the rock, representing the fact that the children buried in this cemetery were of the land of the area.

“The tear drops on the child’s face reflect the hardship of the times. Life for men, women and children was an arduous physical existence, with a high risk of dying in infancy and younger childhood.” Mr Feeley, who was commissioned to carry out the work, said it was only fitting that there is a proper memorial to the people “who had been forgotten for centuries”.

“All I want to do is to spark an interest in people to learn about the fascinating story of the people of Ranelagh, our ancestors here in Roscommon, to research it properly and learn about our rich history and culture here in this amazing county of ours,” he said.

In 2021 at a meeting of Roscommon County Council a motion was passed by county councillors to erect a sculpture in recognition of the discovery of the archaeological site on the N61 in Ranelagh. Thereafter, the proposal was forwarded to the Roscommon Town Team to proceed with the project.

A subcommittee of the Town Team was set up and a project plan established and implemented.

In 2023, Transport Infrastructure Ireland published the 'The Forgotten Cemetery' by Shane Delaney and Eileen Murphy, which describes the excavation and post-excavation work carried out at the site.