1995:114 - CARROWNTEMPLE, Knockacarrigeen, Galway

On 5 November 1995, the excavation of a hilltop enclosure commenced on Knockacarrigeen Hill, Tuam, Co. Galway, as part of an agreed programme of work with Galway County Council, who provided the funding. The project was of 16 weeks' duration and was undertaken by the writer on behalf of the Archaeological Services Unit, UCG. The excavation was part of the Tuam Regional Water Supply Scheme which involved the installation of a pipeline running from the shores of Lough Corrib to the town of Tuam and the construction of two reservoir sites, one located on Knockacarrigeen Hill itself and the other located on the south flank of the hill. Pre-development trenching of the areas to be affected by the lower reservoir was carried out in October 1995, yielding no archaeological material.

The site on Knockacarrigeen Hill was discovered by the Galway Archaeological Survey during aerial reconnaissance in 1987. The area surrounding the hill and the hill itself are rich in important archaeological sites, known since the beginning of this century. There is at least one cairn located on Knockacarrigeen Hill, adjacent to the remains of a probable early historic cashel. The OS map shows three other probable ringforts on Knockacarrigeen, two of which were levelled. The surviving ringfort (SMR 43:32) is situated on the north slope of the hill and is marked as a Children's Burial Ground.

The enclosure under investigation on Knockacarrigeen Hill lay just above the 300' contour and was subcircular in shape, enclosing an area of approx. 160m in diameter. The enclosing element consisted of a totally collapsed dry-stone wall, between 6m and 7m wide. Prior to excavation, it appeared as a pile of small stones with no inner or outer facing stones in evidence. It was best preserved from south to west, where it reached a max. height of 1m. The enclosing element ran beneath a modern field wall (the townland boundary wall) from north to east, and from north-west to north a scarp (height 2m), the face of which was composed of rock outcrop, formed the enclosing element. There were no visible remains of an entrance or fosse. For the most part, the interior of the site was very overgrown with hazel scrub, furze and brambles. There were some subsurface, stone-built features visible after brush clearance, mainly consisting of random low stone walls and a stone enclosure at the north-west end of the site.

The excavation concentrated initially on two main areas within the site, that of the small stone enclosure and the rampart surrounding the south side of the hill. The stone enclosure consisted of an elongated area delimited by a roughly oval stone wall which measured c. 15m in length and 7.5m in width. The wall survived to a height of 0.2–0.3m and measured c. 1m to 1.5m in width. It was of drystone construction using rough unhewn stones. There were patches of burning associated with the enclosure, though they were not very extensive and there were no finds, except for a small fragment of animal bone which was recovered from under the west wall of the enclosure.

An area measuring c. 25m east-west and c. 10m north-south was excavated through the rampart wall. The stratigraphy of the rampart consisted of a patchy sod which overlay a layer of small stones. This came down onto the core of the rampart, which consisted of large stones that appeared to slightly radiate outwards on the north and the south sides from a central spine. The large stones consisted of an irregular arrangement of blocks interspersed with small stones. The rampart in this area excavated survives to a height of 0.45m.

There were several stone features examined within the overall enclosure. They were for the most part field clearance lines, though of indeterminable date. In all there were no finds to suggest a function for either the enclosure or the stone oval enclosure. There was evidence of burning, though, and dates are expected from the C14 results.

Oranmore Industrial Park, Claregalway Rd, Oranmore, Co. Galway