1998:020 - DRUMMANY, Cavan

This site in Drummany townland, Butlersbridge, Co. Cavan, lay across an area of bogland periodically flooded by the Annalee River. It lay along the route of the Cavan Bypass, which has been under construction since 1997. The site was uncovered by Deirdre Murphy during monitoring of ground disturbance works for the bypass. The zone stretches from the laneway (accessed beside Butlersbridge post office) to the north of the site and from the Annalee River to the south. A fulacht fiadh was excavated at the northern limit of this area by D. Murphy (No. 19, Excavations 1998).

The present site lay in an area associated with a number of known archaeological monuments from various periods. To the east of the site lay a 16th-century cornmill, and earlier settlement is marked by the presence of a number of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age sites such as the wedge tomb that lies in a field to the north-west of the site and a standing stone that lies south of the site.

Some struck flint was recovered during the excavation, which appeared to indicate human activity in the area in the Later Mesolithic. The earliest find was a broken butt-trimmed flake, but no apparently prehistoric features were identified during the course of the excavation.The next use of the site appears to be during the Early Christian period, but this date is as yet unconfirmed. A number of dumps of clay had been placed on top of fen peats in the south-east of the site and linked by a short stone causeway to an area of dry land to the north-west.

The naturally fallen wood component of the peat also included larger trunks, some of which were quite substantial. There was no indication that any of these timbers had been modified. An absence of identifiable silting episodes in the peat, other than that associated with the south-western side of the stone causeway, appears to suggest that during the period of peat formation water movement on the site was in this direction only. At that stage the hydrology of the area may have been independent of the river, and it was only when the river had silted up that flooding regularly occurred in the area around the site.

The area to the east of the clay 'platform' had been monitored during previous surface-stripping, but no archaeological deposits were found. A series of circular pits was excavated at both ends of the stone causeway. The deposits around the pits contained a metallic residue, which may be a by-product of (iron?) ore reduction or roasting. The residue may indicate that bog iron ore was being processed on the site, but it may be the result of mineralisation, as it was also present in non-archaeological contexts. Two fragments of iron were recovered from one feature, along with a lead pellet, but these may be intrusive as the feature was at the upper level of the site. The butt-trimmed flake and piece of flint debitage were also recovered from features at this level. The time-span of this activity is not known owing to the absence of a radiocarbon date.

At least 0.4m of peat had formed over the stone causeway when a deposit of boulders was thrown into the pool to the south-west of the causeway. This may be associated with the initial use of the 16th-century cornmill to the east of the site, as the mill-race was positioned to the south of the clay platform. The dump of boulders consolidated the edges of an existing pool as part of the outworks of the mill. The consolidation process may have been ongoing throughout the period of use of the mill and also later, as 19th- and 20th-century objects were present within this deposit. These included farmhouse pottery, cart fragments, 19th-century clay pipe fragments, a blue glass bottle and some amorphous iron objects. A number of sherds of blackware were also identified among the deposits within the millpond.

No evidence of archaeological activity in the peats to the east of the site was revealed, either from the previous surface-stripping or from examination of the drainage channels and dry-land margins. The main focus of the attempts to cross the wetlands on the site was in the area where the two dry headlands were closest.

The cornmill is reputed to have gone out of use during the mid-19th century, and a series of landfill dumps in areas around the mill-race and lake/pond edge was identified as dating to this period. A modern pathway and field drain were also identified on the site. A double post-row structure was identified above the earlier stone causeway. It may have been the pegged element from a now destroyed structure of early modern date.

2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin