EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Antrim
Ballyhenry, Co. Antrim
Early Medieval Settlement Enclosures.
Grid Refs: J31228517 (33122/38517) & J31408470 (33140/38470)
SMR No. ANT 051:035; ANT 051:036
Excavation Licence: N/A
Excavation Duration/Year: 1972.
Site Director: C. J. Lynn (Historic Monuments Branch, Ministry of Finance).
Two enclosures were excavated prior to the development of an industrial estate, which did
not occur.
The excavation of the interior of Ballyhenry 1 (ANT 051:035) uncovered an enigmatic
structure just inside the entranceway. This structure was indicated by the presence of a row
of five small postholes which were interpreted as either the wall of a turf-built rectangular
house which left no other remains, or perhaps as the ‘porch’ of a longer rectangular house
which spanned the gateway. A possible circular structure in the centre of the enclosure was
indicated by a curving gully and posthole.
Finds included three glass beads, two pieces of lignite, and 745 sherds of souterrain ware.
Ballyhenry 2 (ANT 051:036) was a platform enclosure (approximately 1.0m high at the
centre), surrounded by a ditch (approximately 4.0m wide), an external bank (approximately
3.5m wide), and a further external ditch (Fig. 5). Despite these substantial remains few early
medieval finds and internal structures were uncovered during excavation (e.g. just over 200
sherds of souterrain ware and part of a glass bead). Evidence for earlier settlement (e.g.
prehistoric pottery and flint), was found beneath the early medieval layers, and it is possible
that the central mound may have originated in the Bronze Age. Radiocarbon dates were
taken from the pre-enclosure structures and the enclosure ditches of Ballyhenry 2.
Fig. 6: Plan of pre-enclosure phase at Ballyhenry 2, Co. Antrim (after Lynn 1983, 78).
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