County: Offaly Site name: ST KIERAN'S NATIONAL SCHOOL, Clonmacnoise
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Heather A. King
Site type: Ecclesiastical enclosure
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 600750m, N 730527m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.325005, -7.988731
This archaeological investigation, funded by the Department of Education, took place in May 1992 in advance of planning permission being granted for an extension to the school.
St Kieran's National School, built in 1948, is situated in the south-west corner of the monastic enclosure at Clonmacnoise. The close proximity of the school to the Early Christian monastery and to the Anglo-Norman castle, which is located to the north of the school, warranted the supposition that settlement evidence from the early and later medieval periods would be located on the site. This supposition was bolstered by the fact that a hoard of Hiberno-Norse coins was found by school-children in the field adjoining the school when old goal-posts were being removed in 1979. Subsequent excavation of the area indicated evidence for occupation in the early medieval period (Ó'Flóinn 1987-8, 77).
Initially 2 cuttings were seen as being sufficient to assess the archaeological implications of expanding the school but, as these were virtually devoid of any archaeological material, a further 4 cuttings were examined. The cuttings were aligned on the outer foundation trenches of the proposed new classrooms. Six small cuttings to the east of the school and one large cutting to the south were excavated to natural. The main findings indicated a considerable amount of relatively modern disturbance around the school. This included the 1948 foundations of a toilet block to the south of the school (subsequently abandoned) and a water pipe and a sump to the east of the school. Tillage, of uncertain date, was carried out on the east side but the furrows did not extend to the south of the school. The majority of the finds were modern but the occurrence of a quantity of animal bone and slag in almost every cutting together with a cut antler tip and a bronze scrap would suggest that there is some archaeological activity in the vicinity of the school. A recommendation was made to have an archaeologist present when the remaining foundations were being dug.
Reference
Ó Flóinn, Raghnall, 1987-8, 'Excavations bulletin 1977-79' in Journal of Irish Archaeology, IV, 65-79.
Skidoo, Ballyboughal, Co. Dublin
