County: Tipperary Site name: CHANCELLORSLAND
Sites and Monuments Record No.: 92E128 Licence number: —
Author: Martin Doody, The Ballyhoura Hills Project
Site type: Settlement cluster
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 575755m, N 635848m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.473526, -8.356857
The site at Chancellorsland first came to light in 1986 during the Bruff aerial photographic survey when a complex of earthworks incorporating enclosures and barrows was noticed. Since 1992 it has been the subject of detailed study involving topographic and geophysical survey and extensive excavation as part of the Discovery Programme's Ballyhoura Hills project. The aim of the investigation was to establish the function of the various enclosures and to assess a possible chronological link between ritual and domestic elements within the complex.
To this end excavations have taken place at a habitation site, Site A, since 1992 and at a barrow and circular enclosure, Site C, in 1992 and 1994. Summary accounts of the results from those seasons are available in the Discovery Programme Reports. Although the contemporaneity of the various sites has not yet been shown, it has been established that the sites were in use over a considerable period of time in the Bronze Age and later.
Work during the 1995 season concentrated on the oval habitation site, Site A. A twelve-week excavation took place which focused on the structural remains uncovered in previous seasons and on the complex stratigraphy of the ditches. It was clear at the end of the season that, although the site is surrounded by a double ditch, this represents at least three phases of construction and that apparently at no stage was there more than one ditch open at a time surrounding the site. The enclosure was also surrounded by a palisade.
The long-term use of the site is further indicated by remains from the interior, where successive periods of construction were apparent. With approx. one-third of the interior excavated, at least eleven post- and stake-built structures have been recorded. Both rectangular and circular examples were found.
A large portion of the inner ditch was excavated and this proved to be rich in organic remains, which included dumped animal refuse and timber. Pottery and lithic artefacts were also found in considerable numbers.
The Discovery Programme, 13-15 Lower Hatch St., Dublin 2
