Pádraig Ó Dálaigh

Pádraig Ó Dálaigh

Supervisors:

Professor Mairéad Nic Craith, Dr. Andrew Lind, Dr. Oisín Plumb

Research Title

The Tradition of Unbaptised Infants’ Burial Grounds (Cillíní/Killeens) in South-West Cork, Ireland

Research Abstract

This research aims to conduct comprehensive and scholarly research on the topic of unbaptised infants’ burial grounds in the south-west regions of County Cork, Ireland. Dead neonate and stillbirth infants were not allowed by the Church (Canon Law 1239) to be buried in consecrated ground. Instead, they were buried quickly with only a few family members attending the funeral. The mother did not generally attend the funeral at all and the Catholic priest was another noticeable absentee. The dead child was dressed in a white cloth, placed in a shoebox or makeshift box and was barely waked at all. They were buried in fields near the home, in ringforts (with otherworldly connotations), in old disused churchyards, in abandoned graveyards, near water sources, at crossroads, near field and or townland boundaries, on hills, in marginal woodland and marginal bogland. These burial sites were named Cillíní/Killeens as well as other names.

The thesis will research how the locations of these burial sites were reflected in the onomastic evidence pertaining to these minor place names within the various townland names in question. It is proposed that various aspects and characteristics of killeens be examined, for example, the perceived number of killeens countrywide, the notion of separate burial, the presence or absence of rude uninscribed grave-markers, shapes of killeens, measurements of killeens, the timescale of killeens (c. 1600-1965), the eventual abandonment of killeens (following decrees of the Second Vatican Council, 1962-5, which marked a softening in the strict Catholic doctrine regarding such infants being buried in un-consecrated ground only, which doctrine had been in place since the Council of Trent (which ended in 1563) and which stipulated (inter alia) that Canon Law 1239 be strictly enforced in relation to burials such as these during a period of reinvigorated Catholicism of the Counter Reformation in Ireland. Folklore and cultural customs associated with these sites will also be investigated.

Biography

I studied Irish and Latin for my primary degree (1981) at University College Cork (UCC). I subsequently undertook a research master's degree at UCC on the influence of the Classics on Modern Irish Literature which was awarded in 1983. In 1984, I secured a post as Placenames researcher in the Placenames Office, Dublin which I began in early January 1985. I undertook research on the placenames of 5 baronies in County Kilkenny and on the placenames of counties Monaghan, Dublin, Cork, Laois and Kildare. I undertook field work on all of these counties as well as on county Longford. A vast array of academic sources were consulted for researching each placename in each county. I also had regular correspondence duties and was involved on various projects which the Placenames Branch undertook over time. I was appointed to the post of Higher Placenames Officer/Researcher in 2002 and retired from my post in October 2020.

During the course of my working life, I involved myself in post official research which led to doctoral degrees in UCC (1992-1995), University of Ulster (1997-1999), Coláiste Phádraig/Dublin City University (2003-2006) and in MIC/University of Limerick (2014-2018).

Contact email address 22023874@uhi.ac.uk