County: Mayo Site name: KEEM BAY, KEEL WEST, ACHILL ISLAND
Sites and Monuments Record No.: MA053–00303 Licence number: 09E0302
Author: Teresa Bolger, c/o Achill Archaeological Field School, Dooagh, Achill Island, Co. Mayo.
Site type: Deserted village
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 455982m, N 804350m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.968360, -10.195099
An excavation was undertaken at a house site within the deserted village settlement at Keem Bay, Achill Island, Co. Mayo. This excavation formed part of the 2009 programme for the Achill Archaeological Field School.
The purpose of the excavation was to investigate the deserted village settlement at Keem Bay, to better understand the date of the settlement, the nature of the buildings and whether it was a site of permanent or seasonal occupation.
The results of the excavations indicate that the buildings within this settlement are likely to be closely comparable to those found at Carraun Point and also to the beehive huts recorded in early archival photographs taken on the island. The localisation of demolition rubble or collapse material within the interior of the structure investigated indicates that it may have been deliberately demolished at the end of its use.
Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the investigation, definitive dating evidence was not obtained, nor was it possible to fully establish the nature of the settlement (permanent/seasonal).
