EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Kerry
Ballyegan, Co. Kerry
Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure & Souterrain
Grid Ref: Q966110 (09660/11100)
SMR No: KE039-023
Excavation Licence: N/A.
Excavation Duration/Year: July-November 1991
Site Director: M.E. Byrne (University College, Cork)
The site was located in a generally low-lying field 18.5m OD with the ground falling slightly to
the west and south. It had been almost completely levelled and was heavily disturbed in
recent times. Excavation was required in advance of quarry development. This revealed the
partial outline of the walls of a cashel, as well as associated internal structures and a
souterrain. External features were also discovered, for example an external corn-drying kiln,
animal corral and field boundaries.
The site was roughly sub-circular in plan and had internal dimensions of 30m by 35m (Fig.
148). The basal remnants of the enclosure’s walls (2.4m wide) survived along the northern
portion and consisted of a rubble core faced with blocks; no remnants of the southern portion
survived. No evidence of a formal entrance was uncovered on the site, although it was
suggested that the remains of a cobbled surface in the south-east area of the site may
indicate the location of the entrance.
The fragmentary remains of five possible structures were uncovered in the interior. Four were
identified by the remains of truncated stake- and postholes. The fifth was identified by the
remains of a stone wall with an associated hearth. Extensive disturbance to the site in the
1970s made it impossible to establish any information about the size and shape of these
structures.
An L-shaped stone-lined souterrain containing two levels and linked to a natural cave was
revealed inside the cashel. The remains of an articulated horse skeleton were recovered from
collapsed material of one of its chambers, and a type of iron ploughshare dated to the tenth
century (Brady 1987, 236) was recovered in the basal backfill layer of the souterrain passage.
Two of the internal structures were truncated by the souterrain, while one of them postdated
its construction.
A ‘key-hole’-shaped corn-drying kiln was uncovered to the north-west of the cashel; and the
remains of two field boundaries and a possible animal corral were investigated to the south
and south-east of the cashel. The corn-drying kiln measured 2.6m long by 0.45-0.26m wide
and was connected to a roughly circular stone-lined drying chamber with an internal diameter
of 0.8m; while the field boundaries survived to a maximum of 2.0m wide and 0.96m high.
They were built of earth and stone and were similar to those excavated at ‘The Spectacles’,
Lough Gur.
A quantity of animal bone, four fragmented bone combs, a bone gouge, five iron knives, a
possible awl and a fibula brooch fragment, a bronze strap fitting, two shale bracelet
fragments, a stone spindle whorl, an unfinished rotary quernstone and a fragment of another
and a large quantity of hone-stones and other sharpening stones were recovered in various
contexts on site.
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