Cillín
Encyclopedia
A cillín was a historical unconsecrated
burial place in Ireland
for children unbaptised
at the time of death. Suicides, shipwrecked sailors, strangers, urepentant murderers and their victims were also sometimes buried there—they were used for "infants and other ambiguous categories of individual". Some of them are more than 1,000 years old. Ancient pagan burial practices were sometimes later co-opted by Christianity.
The word cillín is a common element in Irish place names, often anglicised as Killeen. An alternative meaning of cillín indicates a small church, from the diminutive form of , meaning church. The word is thought to come from the , meaning little church or oratory.
Consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...
burial place in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
for children unbaptised
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
at the time of death. Suicides, shipwrecked sailors, strangers, urepentant murderers and their victims were also sometimes buried there—they were used for "infants and other ambiguous categories of individual". Some of them are more than 1,000 years old. Ancient pagan burial practices were sometimes later co-opted by Christianity.
The word cillín is a common element in Irish place names, often anglicised as Killeen. An alternative meaning of cillín indicates a small church, from the diminutive form of , meaning church. The word is thought to come from the , meaning little church or oratory.
List of cillíns
- Carrowkeel, County Galway.
- Corcullen, Moycullen, County Galway.
- Many others may easily be found marked on Irish Ordnance Survey mapsOrdnance Survey IrelandOrdnance Survey Ireland is the national mapping agency of the Republic of Ireland and, together with the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland , succeeded, after 1922, the Irish operations of the United Kingdom Ordnance Survey. It is part of the Public service of the Republic of Ireland...
.