1995:224 - CROAGH PATRICK, Glaspatrick/Teevenacroagh, Mayo

The 1994 excavation uncovered the remains of an upturned boat-shaped corbelled drystone oratory of the Gallarus type (Excavations 1994, 69–70). A radiocarbon date of cal. AD 430–890 was given for a sample of charcoal recovered from within the oratory.

This year's excavation concentrated on the probable pre-Christian activity on the summit.

Cutting I was located west of the 1905 church and straddled the collapsed rampart wall which encircles the entire summit. It was L-shaped in plan and measured 15.2m north-south by 6.7m east-west. The widest part of the cutting, i.e. the southern end, was located inside the rampart wall while the narrower (4m wide) part ran northwards across the rampart wall for a distance of 12m. The stratigraphy within Cutting I was very shallow. It was deepest (0.2m) immediately inside the rampart wall face. At the southern end away from the rampart wall the stratigraphy was only 0.05–0.08m thick and consisted of a thin layer of topsoil and peat which directly overlay the natural bedrock. Immediately inside the inner face of the rampart wall and overlying the natural bedrock and scree was a possible layer of rough paving. This may represent the natural rock which has weathered in this fashion. A possible chert core fragment was recovered here. Overlying it was a grey sandy silty layer, 0.05m thick. It produced two iron fragments, a clay pipe stem fragment, a blue glass bead and two flint chips. Overlying this layer and under the sod was a thin layer of stone rubble and soil, 0.1m thick. A broken and burnt chert flake was recovered here.

The inner face of the rampart wall encircling the summit was also exposed in Cutting I. A 6.7m stretch of the drystone wall which survived in a poor condition to a height of 0.6m was exposed. The stones in the wall varied in size from 0.3m x 0.08m to 0.06m x 0.04m. The wall, which was built on natural scree, was faced on the inside only. The stratigraphy on the northern side of the cutting outside the rampart wall consisted solely of natural scree, some of which presumably collapsed from the rampart wall.

Cutting II was located 13m north-west of Cutting I. It measured 8m east-west x 3m north-south and was positioned across the northern half of Hut B, one of the many circular stone hut sites located on the northern and western slopes of the mountain. Hut B was circular in plan, with a max. diameter of 5m. The collapsed enclosing stone wall only survived to a height of 0.2m. The stratigraphy within it was very shallow and consisted of a thin layer of peat, 0.15m thick, which overlay the natural scree and bedrock. A spread of charcoal within the peat produced a broken chert flake fragment, a minute bronze fragment and a modern penny.

Cutting III was located 10m west of Cutting I. It measured 6m east-west by 3m north-south and stretched from the inner face of the rampart wall southwards. A 6m stretch of the drystone rampart wall was exposed to a height of 0.5m. At the bottom of the cutting was a layer of flags which may represent in situ broken bedrock. Overlying this was a layer of pebbles and soil which was overlain by a thin sod layer and loose rock. The only finds recovered here were modern.

Cuttings IV and V, which were eventually joined together, were located at the north-west corner of the summit and straddled the north-west corner of the rampart wall. They measured 6m north-south x 4m east-west. A 4m-long stretch of the inner face of the rampart wall survived to a height of 0.5m. The sizes of the stones in the wall were similar to those in Cutting I, and again it was faced on the inside only. The stratigraphy was deepest (0.36m) immediately inside the inner face of the rampart wall. Overlying the natural scree was a grey sandy layer with small pebbles, 0.1–0.2m thick. A broken retouched flint flake, a possible utilised stone (hone?) and a yellow glass bead were recovered from this layer. Many of the collapsed stones from the rampart wall were interspersed throughout it. A sample of charcoal from within this context and beneath part of the collapsed rampart will be sent for radiocarbon dating.

Overlying this layer was the peat and topsoil, 0.1m thick. The interface between this and the layer below produced a small chert flake, a flint chip, an incomplete bronze (?) mount and a white glass bead. The topsoil layer produced a broken unretouched flint flake, a broken retouched flint flake, two black glass beads, three blue glass beads, two amber beads, a purple glass bead and some modern finds. A black glass bead and a fragment of (?) modern glass were recovered from the sod underneath the upper wall collapse. The stratigraphy on top of and outside the rampart wall was similar to that in Cutting I and consisted solely of natural scree.

Cutting VI was located on the western side of the mountain approx. 75m from Cuttings IV/V and the enclosing rampart wall. It measured 6m north-south x 6m east-west and was positioned across Hut A. This was oval in plan and measured 3.2m north-south x 1.7m east-west internally. The collapsed drystone wall survived above the surrounding peat and scree to a height of 0.3m. On the eastern side (upslope) it was 0.45m thick while on the western side it was 1m thick. The stones in the wall were on average 0.15m x 0.1m in size and no definite inner or outer wall face survived.

The stratigraphy inside the hut consisted of a line of stones averaging 0.2m x 0.1m lying on the natural scree. Overlying these was a layer of peat, up to 0.14m thick. A small broken retouched flint flake, a small chert flake and a chert chip were recovered from the peat. Overlying it was a thin layer of rooty sod/peat, 0.1m thick, which contained no small finds.

Castlebar, Co. Mayo