10.01.2014 Views

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

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

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

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Offaly<br />

A later roundhouse (7m diameter) appears to have been contemporary with a rectangular or<br />

‘D’-shaped platform (6m x 3m (destroyed)), and both are associated with the road-way. Both<br />

<strong>of</strong> these buildings had contemporary enclosed yards with evidence for a wooden gate and a<br />

hearth. A possible structure for storing grain was also uncovered in the metalled yard <strong>of</strong> a<br />

round house and consisted <strong>of</strong> four large oak posts which may have supported an overhanging<br />

platform on which the grain was stored (King 2009, 336-37). Excavations in 1991 and 1992<br />

uncovered a rectangular ‘sod house’ and an external occupation area containing a central<br />

stone-lined hearth (a possible second structure), as well as many pits, postholes, drains and<br />

trenches. A cobbled surface in the northwest corner <strong>of</strong> the ‘New Graveyard’ was interpreted<br />

as a quay or slipway for the River Shannon and a number <strong>of</strong> oak posts found along the edge<br />

<strong>of</strong> the cobbled surface may have provided moorings for small fishing boats (King 2009, 338).<br />

Two contemporary corn-drying kilns were also excavated in the ‘New Graveyard’ with the<br />

hearths and flues <strong>of</strong> both later removed by the insertion <strong>of</strong> a wooden-framed storage pit. An<br />

abandoned well filled with antler waste, including shavings, partly sawn fragments and cut<br />

antler points dating from the later phases <strong>of</strong> the ‘New Graveyard’ was also uncovered and<br />

might indicate the approximate location <strong>of</strong> a craft worker operating nearby (King 2009, 339).<br />

Further evidence elsewhere for the expansion and reorganisation <strong>of</strong> settlement at<br />

Clonmacnoise in the eighth and ninth century are demonstrated by the construction <strong>of</strong> a<br />

massive enclosing ditch and a timber bridge across the River Shannon. Excavations near St.<br />

Ciaran’s National School and the medieval castle to the southwest <strong>of</strong> the monastic site in<br />

1999 and 2000 revealed (Murphy 1999:745; 2000:0810, 2003) a large roughly V-shaped<br />

infilled ditch with a flat bottom and a possible bank along its north side. <strong>The</strong> ditch measured<br />

6.2m wide at the top, 1m wide at the bottom and 3.7m deep at the west end, and 5m wide<br />

at the top, 1.7m wide at the bottom and 3.8m deep at the east end. <strong>The</strong> ditch appeared to<br />

have been deliberately infilled in one episode rather than silting up over a long period <strong>of</strong> time.<br />

Animal bone recovered from the main fill provided a date <strong>of</strong> 1228±43 years BP indicating that<br />

it was infilled in the eighth or ninth century. Two late twelfth/thirteenth century burials were<br />

uncovered to the south <strong>of</strong> the infilled ditch while other related features included pits, iron<br />

slag, a possible bowl-shaped furnace and post-medieval cultivation furrows.<br />

<strong>The</strong> infilling <strong>of</strong> the large enclosing ditch may have roughly coincided with the construction <strong>of</strong><br />

a massive oak bridge crossing the River Shannon (Murphy 2003). It was identified in an<br />

underwater survey to the northwest <strong>of</strong> the site and may represent the bridge mentioned in<br />

the Annals <strong>of</strong> Clonmacnoise in A.D. 1158. Seven pairs <strong>of</strong> posts were found along the northern<br />

bank, and longitudinal timbers, possibly representing the side supports <strong>of</strong> the bridge, were<br />

also discovered. <strong>The</strong>se timbers were dendrochronologically dated to A.D. 804. Further<br />

excavation <strong>of</strong> the bridge in 1997 revealed that the bridge originally measured 120m long and<br />

5m wide, and was likely to be about 10-13m in height. <strong>The</strong> bridge was built <strong>of</strong> 25 pairs <strong>of</strong><br />

vertical oak posts. It appears to have been a single-phase structure (no evidence for repairs<br />

was discovered) and would not have lasted much longer than 40-50 years.<br />

<strong>The</strong> discovery <strong>of</strong> Hiberno-Scandinavian coins in a field to the south <strong>of</strong> St. Ciaran’s National<br />

School instigated further excavations in 1979 (Ó Floinn 1977-79:0063; Ó Floinn and King<br />

1998). <strong>The</strong> site was to the southwest <strong>of</strong> the monastery and outside the line <strong>of</strong> the monastic<br />

enclosure excavated by Donald Murphy. <strong>The</strong> hoard consisted <strong>of</strong> three pennies (including one<br />

silver penny) <strong>of</strong> Hiberno-Scandinavian date, a bronze ingot and a fragment <strong>of</strong> a gold earring<br />

deposited c. AD. 1065-1095. A stone-lined drain and a hearth were also excavated, and these<br />

revealed a jet bracelet fragment and a bone pin, as well as several industrial remains<br />

(crucible fragments, a fragment <strong>of</strong> tuyère, fragments <strong>of</strong> a clay mould, industrial slag (4kg),<br />

and a furnace bottom). Further excavations at St. Ciaran’s National School in 1992 produced<br />

evidence for a quantity <strong>of</strong> animal bone and slag in almost every cutting together with a cut<br />

antler tip and a bronze scrap (King 1992:158). In general, these excavations uncovered<br />

limited evidence for occupation in comparison to the extensive stratified archaeological<br />

deposits to the immediate west and east <strong>of</strong> the monastic site (King 2009, 335).<br />

603

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!