1998:109 - FISHERY COTTAGE, Magheracar, Donegal

The site lies in the extreme south-west of Donegal, about 3km west of Bundoran. It lies on the south side of a small island at the mouth of the Drowes River, about 40m to the south of the site of Bundrowes Castle. No surface traces of this castle have been visible for at least the last 150 years. It is possible that the stones were used for the construction of buildings currently occupying the site.

Test-trenching was required owing to a holiday home development on the site. Monitoring of service trenches and foundations was previously carried out by J.C. McSparron. A shelly deposit containing two small pottery sherds of either Western Neolithic or everted-rim ware was uncovered in the north-east section of the trench to the west of the old building. They were too small and worn to identify properly. everted-rim ware in western Ulster dates to the period around AD 1500, so this may relate to the period of occupation at Bundrowes Castle or it may date to the Neolithic. As the derelict cottage was to be removed, test-trenching was considered essential as it seemed likely that the archaeology would continue to the north-east, under the house, which was reputed to be of 17th-century date.

Test-trenching began on 1 June 1998. Four trenches were excavated, partially by mechanical excavator and partially by hand.

The stratigraphy in Trench 1 corresponded with that in the north-eastern end of the pipe-trench. The 0.3m-deep topsoil contained much relatively recent material. It overlay a compact, yellow- and grey-laminated, lime-rich, stone-filled, sandy clay, 0.25m deep. Below this was a layer of fine, soft, beach sand up to 0.1m deep, which filled the interstices of the cobbled layer below and appears to have been a deliberate deposit. The well-laid cobbled layer was composed of beach stones up to 0.2m in diameter. It may represent an old farmyard or a roadway and was laid in a 0.35m-thick layer of grey clay/silt, which contained red brick. This lay on top of the subsoil. Also encountered in this trench was a 19th-century wall. This respected the cobbling and appears to have formed its north-western edge.

Objects found in these layers included willow pattern pottery, animal bones, glass and brick. Nothing pre-dating the 19th century was found.

Trench 2 was in front of the cottage. Topsoil, c. 0.3m thick, overlay a brown, silty clay up to 0.4m thick, which contained stones and modern rubbish. At the east of the trench this directly overlay the subsoil. Below this, at the west, was a coarse, shelly, sand layer, less than 0.1m thick. This petered out about 5m from the eastern end of the trench. It was no more than 0.5m wide. Underlying this was a brown, sandy clay layer up to 0.2m thick, which overlay a grey, charcoal- and shell-rich, sticky clay. This extended about 6m east-west and c. 3m north-south, was up to 0.3m thick, and overlay the subsoil. It appeared to be midden material of some sort. A piece of animal bone and a tooth were recovered. Shell types found were periwinkles, mussels and limpets. The only artefact found was a curved piece of rusty iron, 60mm long, possibly the remains of a knife. The deposit may be derived from Bundrowes Castle; radiocarbon dates for this site are pending.

Trench 3 was excavated close to the west gable of the house. The house's foundations were very shallow and were not in any sort of trench. Inside the house the topsoil was visible below the foundations. Finds were all modern or 19th-century.

Trench 4 was excavated inside the western end of the house. The sub-floor of the house was composed of a mortar-like material up to 0.2m thick, made from sand and limestone. It appeared to be laid directly on the subsoil except in one place. This was an organic, dark grey, charcoal-rich patch c. 0.8m in diameter and up to 0.2m thick.

Finds included two pieces of hand-moulded, badly fired or burnt brick. This suggests that this was no older than the 18th century. No material or strata of archaeological significance were uncovered.

Some of the stones that composed the walls of the cottage appeared to be well dressed and not just rubble or brick. This could partially explain the disappearance of Bundrowes Castle.

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