Lost burial grounds rediscovered through folklore

Forgotten children of Ireland

New study sheds light on Ireland’s cillíní - unconsecrated burial grounds used for babies that were stillborn. The post Forgotten children of Ireland appeared first on Archaeology Wiki.

Lost burial grounds rediscovered through folklore

Dr Marion Dowd, an archaeology lecturer at Atlantic Technological University (ATU), has shed new light on Ireland’s cillíní—unconsecrated burial grounds for babies who were stillborn, miscarried, or died at birth without baptism.Published in the Journal of Irish Archaeology (Vol. XXXIV, 2025), her research combines folklore and archaeology to reveal forgotten sites and the cultural practices surrounding them. By examining over 350 folklore accou…