1995:117 - DÚN EOGHANACHTA, Eoghanacht, Inis Mór, Galway

This univallate stone fort is located about 1.5km north-west of Dún Aonghasa. It stands on a shoulder of relatively level ground bounded along the south, east and west by rising broken terrain. A short distance north of the site an inland cliff drops almost vertically to an area of good grazing land. The Early Christian monastery of Cill Comhla, a large crescentic mound (possibly a fulacht fiadh) and a number of undated house sites are located in this lower-lying area. The fort commands an excellent view northwards to the coast of Connemara.

Dún Eoghanachta, like the other large stone forts on the Aran Islands, was restored in the late 19th century. Descriptions of the site prior to this are sketchy and most are based on O'Donovan's account (OSL 1839). None of the early commentators examined so far refer to the three buildings which are evident today in the interior of the fort. A photograph of the fort from the south, taken by Dunraven prior to the restoration work, indicates that the enclosing wall was well-preserved externally– the 19th-century repairs appear to have done little more than level up the top of the wall. Descriptions of the interior, however, indicate that the inner face of the terraced enclosing wall was much collapsed.

Dún Eoghanachta was selected for excavation firstly because of its architectural similarity to Dún Aonghasa and secondly as its simple plan and small size suggested that it was likely to be a single-period site, with the main period of occupation or activity thus providing a date for its construction. The fort measures 26m in internal diameter and the walls are up to 5m high and average 4.75m in thickness. The doorway is in the east sector and consists of a faced featureless opening. A terrace 0.8-1.2m wide runs along the inner face of the wall at a height of 1.6-2.5m above present ground level. At present five sets of steps lead from the ground to the terrace and a further five sets of steps lead from the terrace to the top of the wall. The interior is level with a large expanse of bedrock now exposed towards the centre of the site.

Three buildings stand in the western sector. The largest (Structure C) has a rectangular ground-plan (5.25m by 3.78m internally) and a featureless doorway in the short north wall. The west wall is formed by a skin of walling butted back against the lower terrace of the fort. Two lintelled recesses in this wall may have been fireplaces or cupboards. The remaining walls stand to a height of 1m and are 0.75-1m in thickness. This structure is undoubtedly a house and may be medieval or later. Structure B is conjoined to the south side of Structure C and is also rectangular in plan (4.12m by 1.6m internally). It consists of a lean-to butted back against the fort wall and partly occluding a set of steps here. Structure A is also butted against the west wall of the fort. It is of irregular rectangular plan (3.7m long by 1.74–2.45m wide internally) with a pronounced angle in the long southern wall. The north wall is partly occluded by a buildup of rubble on the exterior and the doorway (a faced gap in the east wall) is also partly occluded by this rubble.

Three cuttings were opened over a five-week period: Cutting 1 included approximately half of the interior of Structure C and a strip 1m wide on the corresponding sector of the exterior; Cutting 2 (3m by 3m) was located in the south-west quadrant and Cutting 3 included approximately half the interior of Structure A and a strip 1m wide along the exterior of its south wall.

Similar deposits were uncovered in all three cuttings. The earliest deposits consisted of midden dump containing mainly limpet and periwinkle shells with lesser quantities of animal, fish and bird bones. This material infilled hollows and open grykes in the bedrock and abutted the foundations of the fort wall. In Cutting 2 a few scraps of animal bone and shell fragments lay within a deep gryke which continued in under the fort wall-it seems likely that this activity (at the earliest) is contemporary with the construction of the fort (rather than representing a pre-fort horizon) but further excavation is necessary to establish this for certain. A number of spreads of darker charcoal-rich soil may represent the remains of hearths contemporary with the midden, and a small setting of stones in Cutting 1 may also be the remains of a hearth. The only other features evident at this level were two hollows in the bedrock outside the east wall of Structure C. These appear to have been deliberately constructed and may have acted as rubbish pits. The fills contained cattle, pig, sheep and red deer bones. Finds from the midden deposit were few, but included an iron ring-headed pin, part of a shale bracelet, an amber bead, a cake of iron slag and a slotted-and-pointed iron tool. Parallels for the latter are known from Cahercommaun, Lagore, Carraig Aille and a number of Scottish and Scandinavian sites.

The midden dump underlay the walls of the two structures excavated (A and C). No definite occupation surface or deposits associated with these structures survived in situ. A flat slab lying on the ground surface within Structure C may have been a hearth stone. The slab partly underlies the east wall of the house and if it represents floor level it seems likely that any deposits contemporary with the house have been disturbed or eroded away. Within Structure A, a silver coin of Edward I (probably of AD 1300 date) was recovered near the surface of the midden dump, about 0.2m below present ground level. Though not definitely related to the occupation of the house, the find suggests that there was some activity at the site in the 13th century. No dating evidence was recovered for the construction and occupation of Structure C. With so little known about rural medieval and early post-medieval settlement in the west of Ireland it is not clear whether the absence of a pottery assemblage points to a late (?18th-century) rather than an early date. By the time of John O' Donovan's visit in 1839 the structures appear to have been abandoned and collapsed or occluded by rubble.

In summary, the limited excavations carried out this year suggest a date in the second half of the first millennium AD for the construction of the fort. If future research confirms this, then Dún Eoghanachta may be compared with other large stone forts such as Cahercommaun, which appears to have been a high-status settlement in the late first millennium AD. It is hoped to carry out further excavation at Dún Eoghanachta in 1996.

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