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AR01055_EMAP_Gazetteer_of_Sites_4-2_10.pdf - The Heritage ...

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Mayo<br />

Moyne, Co. Mayo<br />

Early Medieval Ecclesiastical Enclosure.<br />

Grid Ref: M255674949 (125678/249491)<br />

SMR No: MA123-060002<br />

Excavation Licence: N/A<br />

Excavation Duration/Year: September – November 1982.<br />

Site Director: C. Manning (National Parks and Monuments Branch, Office <strong>of</strong> Public<br />

Works).<br />

<strong>The</strong> site consisted <strong>of</strong> a large enclosure (135m by 125m) and a ruined church, surrounded by<br />

a stone-wall, set on a patch <strong>of</strong> pasture located between a bog and rocky terrain. Aerial<br />

photographs <strong>of</strong> the site showed that the interior <strong>of</strong> the enclosure had been subdivided by a<br />

system <strong>of</strong> earthworks. <strong>The</strong> graveyard was still in use, and the site was excavated after<br />

purchase by Mayo County Council required the provision <strong>of</strong> an access road.<br />

A series <strong>of</strong> trenches were excavated inside the enclosure (Fig. 240). <strong>The</strong>se trenches cut<br />

across some <strong>of</strong> the internal features revealing that some were post-medieval field walls, but<br />

also revealing that some were early medieval ditches. <strong>The</strong> ditches may have been associated<br />

with the ecclesiastical site however it is also possible that they were associated with an earlier<br />

secular site, which the excavator argues may have preceded the foundation <strong>of</strong> the church<br />

site.<br />

Finds from these trenches included a number <strong>of</strong> un-diagnostic objects, but nevertheless the<br />

types <strong>of</strong> artefacts which are generally associated with early medieval sites - four iron knives;<br />

a piece <strong>of</strong> worked bone; iron slag; a piece <strong>of</strong> sheet bronze; an iron pruning hook; half <strong>of</strong> a set<br />

<strong>of</strong> iron shears; and an iron disc-headed pin. Quantities <strong>of</strong> animal bone recovered from the<br />

trenches are dominated by cattle and pig, although a large number <strong>of</strong> red deer bones were<br />

also found on site, as well as sheep, horse, otter, cat and dog.<br />

503

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