1989:084 - SHEEPWALK RATH, Sheepwalk, Roscommon

Sheepwalk Rath is situated on a natural ridge at about 300 ft O.D.; it is in an open field just north of the Ballaghaderreen Road (i.e. the N5) in the south-eastern portion of Sheepwalk townland, Co. Roscommon. The rath is multivallate, having originally three ramparts; the northern half of the outer rampart is no longer extant. The Ordnance Survey six inch map (1837) indicates that the outer rampart was whole at that time. The rath entrance appears to be on the east side of the monument evidenced by a slumped point in the rampart. The ridge on which the site is situated follows an east-west axis and the possible entrance straddles the ridge. On the west side of the rath there is a slightly less obvious slumped area which may be an additional entrance. These two areas will be investigated fully during the next field season.

Preliminary testing at Sheepwalk Rath was undertaken in an effort to gain chronological information necessary to formulate questions of the sort required to gain more substantial funding. Sheepwalk Rath will be an integral part of a larger project which will examine the settlement pattern of the Iron Age/Early Christian sites in this area. Combination of pertinent information in the ancient literature, excavation data and survey data will provide the foundation for an in-depth analysis of the socio-political structure in Connacht of Iron Age/Early Christian times. The fieldwork of this past summer was limited to two weeks (1 July-15 July) during which the site was measured, photographed and tested. The testing consisted of a series of soil probes and the excavation of a 1m sq. test unit. Future work will consist of an exhaustive survey of the sites in the area (mapping any sites not already mapped), extensive excavation at Sheepwalk and research directed towards the location of and examination of serendipitous finds uncovered during roadworks, etc.

The soil probe survey was designed to assist in the selection of an appropriate location to place the test unit. Based on the results of the soil probing, the test unit was placed just west of the area believed to be the eastern entrance of the rath. The test unit yielded evidence for an area of paving. The artefacts from this unit consisted of ceramics and lithics; faunal material and the fossilised remains of marine animals were also uncovered. The majority of the finds were imbedded in the paved area. The faunal remains were restricted to the level of the paved area as well. The summary of excavation is on file at the Office of Public Works and the National Museum in Dublin. In addition, there is a brief field report which should appear in The Old World Archaeology Newsletter, published at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, U.S.A.

Dept. of Anthropology, The Graduate School, C.U.N.Y, New York