Cill\u00edn\u00ed, or burial grounds for unbaptised babies, date predominantly from the post-medieval period (mid-sixteenth century) to the mid-twentieth century, though a number of medieval examples have also been recorded.<\/p>\n
It is reported that there are 136 cill\u00edn\u00ed<\/em> sites or unbaptised children\u2019s burial grounds in county Clare. This apparently is a remarkable number when compared with most counties.<\/p>\n Locations of\u00a0cill\u00edn\u00ed were chosen carefully. Children\u2019s burials in Clare were located near Holy Wells, others were on the borders of townlands, or in places of mystical significance, at crossing points, near megalithic tombs, fairy ring forts, near to old church ruins or in positions of importance.<\/p>\n The use of cill\u00edns continued up to the 1940\u2019s and in some instances, the 1950\u2019s. Recently in some parishes, the cill\u00edns have been embraced, signposted, and re-assimilated into the prayer community. In many instances the presence of the cill\u00edn\u00ed is still in the memory of local people and in the community and there is a desire for these sites to be preserved and remembered today.<\/p>\n This project aims to audit and survey the cill\u00edn\u00ed of County Clare so that knowledge of their existence is preserved for future generations. Part two of this project will include the launch of\u00a0 online information about the Cill\u00edns on the Clare Heritage website.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":24508,"template":"","class_list":["post-24507","event","type-event","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n