The first expedition of the Co. Kildare Archaeological Society for Heritage Week 2011 was to Kileen Cormac on the borders of Kildare and Wicklow. Despite heavy showers there was a large attendance.
The ancient graveyard is situated on a mound some way off the road at Colbinstown and to guide us around the site and explain its context was Sharon A. Greene, archaeologist, who has made a particular study of this site.
Sharon explained the context of the site and its relationship to the landscape and other early Christian sites. She related the legends surrounding the site and made suggestions as to how it got its name. She then went on to suggest that all the evidence, including the ogham stones on the site, and historical records suggested a very early monastic foundation. Seven ogham stones had been recorded on the site and some were still in situ. One ogham stone, now in the National Museum, was one of only two known in Ireland to have both an ogham inscription and a Latin inscription.
Sharon then revealed the results of the geophysical survey that she had commissioned for the area surrounding the graveyard itself. This survey confirmed what she had suspected: the graveyard was but the nucleus of a much more extensive early Christian foundation. The dating of the ditches and field boundaries, revealed with great clarity, must await excavation at some later date.
Elizabeth Connelly on behalf of Con Manning, President who could not make the outing, thanked Sharon and the owner of the land, Mr. David Crampton, who allowed us access to the site and also to park in the field.
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