archaeological & built heritage assessment - The Heritage Council

Hillforts are one indication of the greater insecurity and the larger social groups which were features of
the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. Linear earthworks, stretching across the countryside,
provide further tangible evidence of these circumstances. These consist of a fosse with one or two
earthen banks, and were probably built to mark out the domain of particular groups of people and to
hinder cattle-raids rather than to prevent the actual invasion of territory. There are three recorded linear
earthworks located within the study area at Cuiltyconway, Corry and Drumcleavry, Co. Roscommon.
These linear earthworks collectively form portions of ‘The Doon’, a substantial linear earthwork which
originally extended from the area of Lough Corry, along the banks of the Shannon towards Jamestown
where, immediately south of Jamestown Bridge, it extends in an easterly direction, linking again with the
banks of the Shannon south of Drumsna. As such, the earthwork delineated that area known as the ‘Great
Loop’ on the Shannon located between Lough Corry and Drumsna. It has been subject to excavation in
recent years by Condit & Buckley (Excavation M993966; 1990:099; Emania 6, 1989, 12-14) which
suggested that the primary bank was later enlarged and heightened by earth-dumping to its north side
which may be indicative of both its re-use of a long period of time as well as heightened times of unrest
thus requiring higher defence. Known as the ‘Doon of Drumsna’, the prehistoric Iron Age earthwork was
first described in 1915 by W. F. de Vismes Kane in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (32C: 324-
332). It is thought that the Doon was designed primarily to protect the royal seat of Connaught at
Rathcroghan, some 22.5km south-west, from invaders from the north. Its location was strategically
chosen since on the east, north, and especially the west sides of the peninsula are the only shallows that
can be forded on the River Shannon north of Athlone. By blocking where invaders from the north could
enter Roscommon most readily, the Doon was a major defence in the northern frontier of Connaught.
The main barrier was a massive earthen rampart across the neck of the peninsula in what are now the
townlands of Ardanaffrin and Lackagh. The main earthworks were about 6m high and 30m wide. Smaller
earthworks with an intervening ditch paralleled and extended along both its northern and southern sides,
c. 4m and 40m respectively from the main barrier. Its northern side was steeply scarped and faced an
almost impassable bog up to 100km wide which, however, could be crossed on two drier ridges, each
leading to a large entrance gap or gate in the barriers. The main entrance was 26m wide and had
gateposts that would have been 2m square. The eastern gate was 23m wide at its northern entrance
funnelling to 16m. Functional purposes of the entrances were likely to have been to enable refugees from
the north to be screened as potential friends or enemies and cattle raided in the north to be brought to
protection in the south.
There were also two subsidiary barriers that formed part of the Doon. One ran south from the western
end of the main earthwork along the shallows of the Shannon, particularly at Corry. Its surviving remains
indicate that it consisted of parallel banks and ditches. The second subsidiary barrier apparently extended
north from the eastern end of the main earthworks towards Drumsna Bridge. Its purpose would have
been to keep out invaders by boat from the eastern side of the Shannon.
A section of the so-called ‘Black Pig’s Dyke’, also a substantial linear earthwork, is said to be located
between Dowra and Lough Allen in Co. Leitrim, however there is no indication of this as a recorded
monument in the RMP or County Inventory. So named after a folk tale about a magical black pig which –
when chased across several counties – rooted up large tracts of land – it has been claimed by earlier
writers to have been a single defensive earthwork stretching from Bundoran in the west to Dundalk in the
east. Limited excavation of a section of the dyke has demonstrated that the monument had consisted of a
timber palisade and external ditch with a double bank with intervening ditch beyond. The overall width
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