1970:06 - INISHCALTRA (Holy Island), Clare

As part of a long-term project of excavation, work was begun in 1970 on the monastic site of Holy Island, or Inishoaltra, Co. Clare. The island, of more than forty acres, is in Lough Derg, about a quarter of a mile from the western shore of the Shannon near Mountshannon. Here there are ruins of stone churches, a round tower, remains of stone crosses and grave-slabs, and an extensive system of enclosures and paths or roadways defined by earthworks. Most of the remains clearly visible on the ground are concentrated on the western half of the island, but air photographs show that some of the earthworks extended to the east as well. The site has been fully described by Macalister (P.R.I.A. C 1916-17, pp. 93ff.).

Excavation in the first season was commenced at three sites on the island:
(1) The church known as the “Baptism Church” (O.S.) or “St. Brigid’ s Church” (Macalister);
(2) The “Holy Well” (Macalister) or “Lady Well” (0.S.);
(3) The “Cottage”.

The Baptism church is a ruin of a small single-celled building with a carved Romanesque doorway which, together with the whole of the west gable, was re-erected by the Board of Works in the last century. There was also a round-headed window in the cast wall when the Ordnance Survey visited the island, but most of the east wall subsequently fell. The church stands inside an enclosure bounded on the south by the lower part of a well-built masonry wall pierced with a round-arched gateway. On the other three sides the enclosure before excavation was marked by banks, at least partly of earth, in which some stone showed.

Excavation showed that the enclosure was free of burials. Collapsed masonry from the church was found on all sides, including the more or less intact east gable under a light turf. The enclosure boundary proved to be complex, and at the close of the 1970 season it seemed that the enclosure resulted in part at least from the adaptation of pre-existing features, part of the system of “field enclosures” which extends over a large part of the island. The denuded earthen banks which define this system are, in this area at least, associated with deep v-ditches. Finds from the lower silt-like fill of these ditches included an openwork bronze brooch with animal ornament in Lindisfarne style and no objects which could be given an appreciably later date. The church enclosure proper, which was fitted into the corner of one of the “field enclosures” had several stages, the last of which, a crude drystone wall, may be of late medieval date. An earlier stage was marked by a ditch, filled largely with food refuse (much animal bone) which was associated with a rich occupation deposit to the north of the church. Bronze pins and other objects of twelfth- and thirteenth-century date came from the deposit. What appeared to be an earlier stage of enclosure was marked by the remains of an earthen bank.

The mortared stone wall bounding the enclosure to the south was at both terminals returned briefly to the north, where the unmortared and poorly built cashel wall bounding the west, north and east sides joined it. This south wall appears to be associated with St. Mary’s church (lying to the south of St. Brigid’s) and is probably of thirteenth-century date.

The area to the west of the church, both inside and outside the enclosure, was one of industrial activity of several kinds. Part of a bronze working furnace was found, and also remains of iron -reduction pits. There was an area in which roofing slates were trimmed. Outside the enclosure to the west, working pits were numerous. Two complete decorated quern-stones (almost identical in design) were found, as well as one broken in course of manufacture.

A hollow-based barbed flint arrowhead and a small polished stone axe were found in the area north of the church and indicate that there had been some Early Bronze Age activity in the vicinity.

Several fragments of Romanesque sculpture of a high quality were found in secondary position. These do not belong to any of the architectural features now remaining on the island. It is possible that Iniscaltra was a centre of production for twelfth-century carved work, perhaps for churches along the Shannon.

The interior of the church had been used at some relatively late date for burials. These, however, were sealed by several phases of dilapidation and by the small occupation deposit which marked the herd’s shelter recorded as having occupied the east end of the church in the early nineteenth century. From evidence found with two of the skeletons it would seem that this was a specialised birth place, for women dying in childbirth.

Excavation at St. Brigid’s was suspended at the end of the season and it is hoped to complete it in 1971.

The well was pumped dry and excavated. An area around it was also excavated. It was found that a paving of gravel had been laid down around the well, and that a drain had been constructed to keep this area dry. There was abundant evidence of a cult of offerings, mainly coins and small objects. These dated from c.1850 onwards, the greater part of them from the early twentieth century.

The interior of the “cottage” was excavated, together with an area around it. This, a two-roomed building with back-to-back fireplace, had been constructed without foundations, the base-courses of the walls being laid directly on the turf. No floor remained in the interior, possibly as a result of the “clearing out” undertaken by the Board of Works in 1870. It was clear however that the floor of the building had sloped sharply. Finds were few—fragments of iron objects—and not closely datable.