A BATTLE-FIELD AT BONNYBROOK
In March 1934, when a large mound, about 80 metres in diameter, situated near the roadway at Bonnybrook, was being ploughed by a tractor, the driver discovered a large collection of human remains.
The National Museum was called in and excavated the site. Between 10 and 20 skeletons were found. The bones were not alone human, but also those of horses. The excavations concluded that it was a battlefield interment or possibly a plague pit. No weapons or other grave goods were found with the burials and therefore it was not possible to date them. The museum authorities, however, said the mound was definitely post-Norman and might date from the 13th, 14th or 15th centuries.
This mound was the object of some local superstition and the field in which it stood had not been tilled in living memory. The mound was therefore connected in the peoples’ minds with some unpleasant happenings. The heap of skeletons found in the mound show that the local superstitions were based on fact.