Reburial of human remains and concerns regarding pathogens and pollution prompted the search for, and assessment of, a 156-year-old graveyard. To locate this graveyard, historic and anecdotal information was compared to landscape interpretation from aerial photography. To assess and map the contents, surface collapses, metal detector indications, and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) were used. Some 170 anomalies compatible with burials were identified on 200 MHz GPR data, 84 of which coincided with surface collapses, suggesting both noncollapsed ground, subsequent infill, and multiple inhumations. The graveyard was possibly split into Roman Catholic plots with multiple inhumations; Protestant plots; and a kileen, or graveyard for the unbaptized (often children). The work serves as one approach to the location and mapping of recent and historic unmarked graves.

This study investigates the nature of diet in a predominantly Late Medieval Gaelic Irish skeletal population and explores whether any sex-based and/or age differences were evident in the population. A smaller sub-sample was also examined to determine whether there was any evidence for dietary change over time between the Early Medieval (c.700-c.1200) and Late Medieval periods (c.1200-c.1600). The dietary evidence was derived using a multiproxy approach that combined information from dental palaeopathology (n=356 adults) and analysis of carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) stable isotope compositions (n=72 individuals).A higher proportion of females were affected by carious lesions when compared to males. This is possibly suggestive of differing levels of carbohydrate consumption between the sexes, although other factors such as eating habits, and genetic and physiological differences may also have influenced the patterns in the data. The isotopic values indicated that both sexes were consuming similar amounts and types (marine vs. terrestrial) of dietary protein.Elevated δ 15 N indicated breastfeeding among the youngest in society but, once children had been weaned, the dietary protein was isotopically similar across the different age categories. Among a smaller radiocarbon-dated sub-sample (n=37), there was an increase in both the percentage of individuals affected by dental caries and the percentage of teeth affected by dental caries between the Early Medieval and Late Medieval periods. This increase may indicate a greater inclusion of plant-based carbohydrates, such as cereals, in the diet over time, although it may also reflect the younger age distribution of the Early Medieval sample.Interpretations for each of these patterns are discussed with reference to the historical and archaeological evidence. Multiproxy palaeodietary studies for Medieval Ireland are limited and this is the first substantial study of evidence derived from both dental palaeopathology and stable isotope analysis.

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It has been suggested that the presence of religious images and scenes in secular buildings of sixteenth-century date can be viewed as an expression of resistance by the native Irish to English colonial activity in the aftermath of the Munster Plantation (J. A. Delle, 1999, International Journal of Historical Archaeology 3: 11-35). Such images, however, may merely represent a continuation into the early modern period of a Medieval tradition of adorning secular houses with devotional images. If a religious symbol of native Catholic resistance to English colonization and Protestantism in Munster is to be sought then perhaps a more appropriate image would be the I.H.S. monogram-a symbol associated with the CounterReformation and the Jesuits. The paper presents an example of the monogram located within a tower house at Gortnetubbrid in County Limerick, Ireland.

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