EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Westmeath
Clonfad, Co. Westmeath
Early Medieval Ecclesiastical Enclosure
Grid reference: N40594059 (240599/240591)
SMR No: WM032-089
Excavation Licence No: A001/036
Excavation duration/Year: November 2004 – February 2005.
Site directors: P. Stevens (Valerie J. Keely Ltd.)
Topsoil stripping and subsequent excavation prior to road construction uncovered a hitherto
unknown ecclesiastical enclosure near to a disused graveyard and ruined church. The site
was located on the eastern slope of a low hillside, just to the south-east of Lough Ennell,
which formed the traditional western boundary of the kingdom of Meath.
At least two concentric enclosure ditches were revealed during excavation – the outer ditch
(3m wide and 1.7m deep) enclosed an area 200-220m in diameter; and the inner ditch (2.8m
wide and 1.3m deep) enclosed an area 100-110m in diameter. Radiocarbon dates show this
ditch was backfilled before the ninth century (see below). A smaller enclosure (around 50m in
diameter) surrounded the ruined church site, and this lay in the middle of the larger
enclosures, suggesting that the early medieval site may originally have consisted of three
enclosures, the innermost of which has survived around the upstanding church and graveyard
(Fig. 297).
Excavation revealed a series of phases of occupation on the site. Phase 1, the early monastic
phase, produced evidence for further subdivision of the enclosures, which may have been
associated with controlling the flow of a stream through the site. This phase produced
occupation remains such as postholes, refuse-pits, cobbled areas, a possible workshop, and
wells. There was evidence for substantial industrial activity associated with this phase, e.g.
bone-working (for combs), button/bead manufacture, and textile production. The most
significant industry, however, would appear to have been metalworking, and 1.7 tonnes of
waste was recovered from the site, giving evidence for both ironworking and bronze-working.
Ceramic crucibles, stone/clay moulds, tuyères, and bog ore deposits were all found in the
outer ditch fills, and in the vicinity of large furnace bowls located on the side of the stream
which flowed through the site. The earliest furnace on site was radiocarbon dated to the
seventh/eighth century (see below). Metalworking on the site appears to have been
associated with the construction, and brazing, of ecclesiastical hand-bells.
The site carried on in use during the Anglo-Norman period (Phase 2), and through into the
post-medieval period (Phase 3), when the church was abandoned and a walled graveyard
created.
Over 600 finds were recovered from the site, including iron tools, iron blades, an iron ringed
pin; a bronze ringed pin; coins; bone pins; rotary quernstones; and a lignite bracelet.
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