1994:202 - MOORE CEMETERY, Loughlackagh, Roscommon

This site was excavated on behalf of Roscommon County Council. The site consists of a souterrain situated west of a graveyard. The area was trial trenched in advance of an extension of the cemetery, to ascertain the limits of any archaeological deposits.

Trial trenching commenced on May 10, 1994 and finished on May 24, 1994. The site is situated in a pasture field 18m from the cemetery wall. The ground is mildly undulating and the area is on a rise.

The site consists of a souterrain with two chambers in an L shape, oriented north-south and east-west respectively. At present several of its lintels have been removed and the interior of its east-west chamber is visible. The north-south chamber measures 10m by c. 2.5m wide and the east-west example measures 7.5m by 2.5m. The north-south chamber is connected on its north-south end coming off the south-west of the east-west chamber.

The interior of the north-south chamber is partially filled with earth and is inaccessible. The east-west chamber is partially filled in its east end almost up to its corbels. A few courses of masonry can be seen in its west end. The lintels are rough and measure up to 1.5m by 0.8m across. There is a probable entrance on the south-east corner of the east-west chamber where a boulder lies in a shallow depression. A lump of iron slag was found here.

My brief was to ascertain the limit of existence of any archaeological material around the souterrain and to find any enclosing feature such as a bank or ditch which may exist. Prior to the excavation no indication of any enclosure was evident on the surface and nothing was picked up as a result of aerial survey. Upon the completion of the work a limit of preservation is to be outlined around the souterrain so that any undiscovered archaeological material that may exist be preserved.

Four trenches were opened from the souterrain roughly to the cardinal points, north, south, east and west, in order to pick up any indication of an enclosing feature. No such feature was found to clearly demonstrate an enclosing ditch or bank. While depressions were located in the elevations of the trenches, they were not continuous with their opposite sides. One such depression was excavated but turned out to be a bowl-shaped dip in the boulder clay caused perhaps by tree roots or a rabbit warren. A dark brown lens showed in the east face of TT4 20m from the souterrain; analyses of this context did not produce enough evidence to indicate an archaeological feature.

The presence of a lump of iron slag within the probable entrance of the souterrain indicated that there may have been iron smelting at the site. The remains of the rough wall just under the sod was not reflected in the east face of TT4. Rabbit holes are extensive. No definite evidence of occupation came to light in the trial trenches. The depressions encountered in the faces may have been caused by rabbits and/or tree roots. The samples sent for analyses produced no indication of definite occupation although flecks of charcoal were found.

57 Upper Newcastle, Galway