1998:326 - MOONE ABBEY, Moone, Kildare

The excavations, funded by Dúchas The Heritage Service, were carried out in advance of conservation, from 22 June to 7 August 1998. The site is the Early Christian monastery reputedly founded by St Colmcille in the 6th century.

Investigations confirmed that the eastern end of the church was Early Christian, probably dating to the 10th or 11th centuries. The small church with antae had internal dimensions of 9.5m east-west by 5.6m. In the cutting (7.5m x 7m), 6.5m from the east end, the remains of the Early Christian west wall were discovered. The wall (c. 0.8m wide) survived at both ends and was best preserved at the south, where five courses in height were extant. Numerous sharpening marks were revealed on the stones at the south-west corner of the Early Christian church. The south-west anta could be traced in the masonry.

The Early Christian church was converted into the chancel when a long nave (internal length 23.2m) was built. Architectural features did not survive that would provide definitive dating, but the 13th century is suggested for this construction phase. A chancel arch was inserted that necessitated the demolition of most of the west wall. The base of the south jamb of the chancel arch was preserved, which was supported on the Early Christian foundation and was built up against the remains of the west wall. The chancel arch would have had a span of 3.7m, and a sketch by Austin Cooper in 1784 depicts a semicircular-headed arch.

In the lowermost layer investigated a silt mixed with sand, charcoal fragments and 13th–14th-century artefacts was found in the south-east corner of the nave. The finds comprised pottery, a single-sided composite antler comb and a copper-alloy strap-tag.

Three adjoining cuttings (total area 4.34m2) were opened at the north wall of the nave, c. 12m from the west end. In the cutting outside the nave a grave containing an adult had cut into undisturbed levels (1.1m deep). The overlying deposit of silty sand had human skull fragments. A second grave was discovered above, in which the articulated leg bones of an adult were present. It appears that this latter burial pre-dates the nave and that the proximal skeletal remains were disturbed when the wall was built.

A small pit (0.35m x 1m and 0.47m deep) was revealed beside the nave wall, which had cut through the underlying stratigraphy into the undisturbed levels. The pit fill contained fragments of human bone and charcoal. Undisturbed layers were not reached in the cutting inside the nave (1.02m deep). A deposit of sand contained large unhewn stones, scattered human bone fragments and charcoal flecks.

A crypt was discovered beneath the north-west of the chancel, which has yet to be investigated. A small hole in the roof enabled two coffins to be observed inside. The blocked entrance to the crypt was outside the cutting to the east. In the north-west corner of the chancel the plinth for the memorial monument associated with the crypt was uncovered. The plinth consisted of worked limestone blocks, one of which had an inscription - IACOBUS SHERGOLD ME INSCRIPTS IT. Other fragments of the monument, commemorating Walter Archbold (of Timolin), who died in 1629, and his wives Elizabeth Eustace and Amie Ussher, are preserved at Moone Abbey.

A cutting (2m x 3m) was investigated 9m south of the church in the graveyard, where the tall granite high cross was erected in the mid-19th century. No evidence was found to indicate that this was the original site of the cross. Undisturbed sand layers were reached at a depth of c. 1.3m. A small oval pit (0.68m x 0.87m and 0.27m deep) had cut into the sand. In the pit fill were human bone fragments and a complete adult tibia. The overlying deposit was graveyard soil (1.2m maximum depth), and three adult burials with associated coffin remains were excavated. In the mid-19th century these burials were partially removed when a large, irregularly shaped pit (c. 1m deep) was dug. The pit was filled with stones and sand to provide a firm foundation for the high cross.

Templemartin, Craughwell, Co. Galway