1997:228 - CATHAIR FIONNURACH (CATHAIR A BHOGHASIN), BALLYNAVENOORAGH, Kerry

The site consists of a large stone fort, 25.5m in internal diameter, enclosed by a wall which survives to a height of 2.5m and up to 3.5m in thickness. The fort is on a slope which appears to have been terraced prior to its construction. Two hearths, which appear to relate to the construction phase of the cashel, were identified within the redeposited soil horizon upon which the fort wall was constructed. These consisted of charcoal-filled pits and a charcoal spread which extended under the cashel wall.

At least seven sets of steps gave access to a series of wall terraces which were best preserved in the north-east quadrant. A wall niche is present in the internal face of the north-west sector and there is a corbelled rectangular chamber in the east-south-east sector of the cashel wall. The entrance to the chamber was from the interior of the fort via a narrow low passage, roofed with two lintels. The passage floor is paved as far as the centre of the chamber, where a shallow stone-lined pit is located. This contained black soil and charcoal, suggesting the former presence of a hearth. Two other wall chambers referred to in early descriptions of the site appear to have been destroyed. They were located in the southern sector.

Immediately inside the wall there is a ditch, 1m wide and 0.4m deep, which may be a drainage feature associated with recent use of the site as an animal pen.

Within the fort there is a house consisting of two conjoined rooms which form a rough figure-of-eight. The larger of the two rooms is placed centrally within the fort and the smaller adjoins it on the north-east. Internally these are circular and measure 6.5m and 4.5m in diameter. A door links the two rooms. The smaller room has a door at the rear of the house.

The house walls, which are drystone-built, are vertical internally but have a slight external batter. They sit on a layer of redeposited boulder clay which was laid down to provide a level foundation. Stone revetments retain the foundation layer outside the house walls along the northern edge. The foundation layer served as the original floor of the rooms but, at some later stage, a new layer was laid down in the large room to provide a new floor. Two hearths were found associated with the first horizon. The later, upper horizon contains many stone-lined postholes. A drain and sump inside the house wall, a small pit-furnace, and stone steps linking the two rooms are also associated with the relaid floor.

There appear also to be two phases in the smaller room. Flat paving stones extend from the linking door to the entrance to a souterrain. When the stone paving (and a possible hearth spread) was removed, about 350 small postholes were discovered. Of particular interest is a double line of postholes set around the rectangular entrance to the souterrain which may represent the remnants of a wicker frame erected around the entrance for safety reasons. The precise function of the other postholes is not yet clear but they may have held roof-support timbers, internal room divisions and room furnishings.

The souterrain is entered via a pit which was partly arched over by the wall of the smaller room. It is L-shaped, the chamber tending north to south. The chamber was reached via an earthen ramp and stone steps which descend from the pit and meet it at right angles. The passage, which is slightly curved, is roofed with large stone slabs, and there is an airvent running off from the top of the northern end-wall.

The main door of the house faces the entrance to the fort and is joined with it by means of a paved path which is partly lined with slabs set on their sides. The fort entrance is flanked by jambs and may originally have been lintelled. A large posthole would have held a wooden post on which the entrance gate was hung.

A large waterlogged pit discovered within the cashel contained important organic remains. It was 2m wide and 1.9m deep. Three separate horizons of organic material were identified within the waterlogged deposits. The uppermost consisted of a layer of oaten straw which appeared to have been interwoven with a series of wooden rods, possibly hazel. This overlay a layer of gravel containing straw. The bottom horizon consisted primarily of grass but with some straw. Finds from the pit included a chamfered length of wood; a wooden lid containing a mirror inset; two fragments of a wooden platter; hazelnut shells and part of a winkle shell.

A rim sherd identified as B Miscellaneous Ware and sherds of Bii Ware imported pottery were found in disturbed contexts which appear to relate to a pre-fort settlement. Other finds from the interior of the fort were a spindle-whorl, a pin-sharpener in the shape of a Latin cross, a blue glass bead, a possible stone gaming-piece, an iron knife, a crucible fragment and two silver pennies of Henry III.

To the east of the cashel, immediately south of the entrance, are the remains of three cloghauns roughly in a row; two are conjoined in a figure-of-eight. A direct relationship between the cloghauns and the cashel cannot be discounted.

The excavation, which took place each summer from 1994 to 1997, was sponsored by Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne, Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, Trá Lí, Co. Chiarraí, with the assistance of the Ireland Fund; Meitheal Forbartha Na Gaeltachta (through the Leader Programme); the Dunfy Family, Boston, USA; and Dúchas The Heritage Service, Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands.

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