Dry spell may have led to discovery of saint’s home

THE recent heatwave may have helped historians locate yet another archaeological gem in Co. Meath – the childhood home of St Oliver Plunkett.

The outline of a house, containing three big rooms and four smaller rooms, with a pathway leading to the church in the grounds of Loughcrew Estate, near Oldcastle, became apparent during the prolonged spell of dry weather.

St Oliver Plunkett grew up on the estate but the precise location of the house was unclear, although it is mentioned in the civil survey of 1612.

He was canonised in 1975 and his head is on display in St Peter’s Church in Drogheda.

The possibility of the site being his ancestral home has excited the owner of the estate, Emily Naper, who is a direct descendant of the saint.

‘I’m not an archaeologist by any means, but it’s a fair assumption to make that this is the house, especially as the path seems to be linked straight to the church,’ she said.

The site first came apparent in the garden during a previous drought and was noted by the estate’s resident poet Peter Fallon.

‘Peter told us that he had seen it before but then it vanished without a trace and he couldn’t recall its exact location,’ said Ms Naper.

This time, the location was clearly visible and it was only at the first shower of rain that Ms Naper decided to take pictures.

‘We had to do something before it disappeared again, so we marked it and took photographs,’ she added.

St Oliver was born at Loughcrew in 1625 and ordained in 1654. He later became Archbishop of Armagh.

The National Monuments Service confirmed to the Irish Daily Mail that it was informed by email last Tuesday ‘of a report of a crop mark indicating a building at Loughcrew’.

In recent weeks, a number of crop marks at sites across the Boyne Valley have been revealed due to the dry weather.