1999:038 - CATHAIR MÓR, Ballylabban, Clare

This project involved the excavation of the gatehouse of Cathair Mór stone fort, in the Burren, Co. Clare. The work was undertaken as part of a Dúchas plan to make the site more accessible to visitors. The entrance passage was partly blocked with rubble, and the stone lintel, which once spanned the doorway, had fallen across the entrance.

Cathair Mór stands on the east shoulder of a north-east/south-west-running valley, with higher ground to the east. The complex consists of a stone fort with an outer and inner wall, with evidence of stone structures in the interior. There is a second stone fort to the south-east of the site, while aerial photographs from the 1960s indicate the possible existence of a number of further structures that have since been destroyed or obscured from view by thick vegetation cover.

The work involved the manual excavation of one trench, which was orientated north-south, measured 11m x 10m and incorporated the gatehouse and its immediate environs. Removal of topsoil (C1) and rubble (C2) revealed the extent and shape of the gatehouse, which was found to consist of a rectangular structure with a splayed entrance passage and a small chamber on either side of the passage. Underlying C1 and C2 in both the interior and exterior of the gatehouse was bedrock, which in the exterior of the entrance was found at a level 0.5m below the level of the interior. This meant that on entering the fort one had to step up to the entrance passage. Underlying rubble in the entrance passage was a surface of stone and clay that formed the floor level of the passageway. In the west end of the passage, bedrock was used as the floor, but as the bedrock level was lower in the east it was necessary to use small stones and sandy clay to build up the floor. A spud stone, found immediately inside the doorway at this level, confirms that this was the original floor level of the gatehouse.In the interior of the gatehouse a single small chamber was revealed on either side of the entrance passage. On the south side a dressed limestone block, 0.93m x 0.26m, marks the entrance to a small rectangular chamber. The entrance stone is 0.63m above ground level, and on its west side is a small rectangular spud stone (0.08m x 0.07m x 0.03m) that would have supported a doorway. On the opposite, north side of the entrance passage is a similar rectangular chamber. While no entrance stone survives, access is 0.56m above the level of the passage floor. It leads to an irregular-shaped chamber constructed of uncut limestone blocks with moderate mortar inclusions. The wall survives best in the north and west, where it is 1.07m high. Photographic records from the 1950s indicate a gabled roof; however, this is likely to have been a later feature. The floor level, like that in the chamber opposite, has been dug through for a depth of 0.9m.

On the exterior east and west sides of the gatehouse the removal of topsoil revealed bedrock that sloped downwards from south to north. While the exterior wall of the gatehouse ran flush with the wall of the fort in the interior, the gatehouse projected eastward beyond the fort wall. This projection of the gatehouse wall meant that in the north-west, where the bedrock level was low, a foundation was required to support the structure. This foundation consisted of small stones with frequent oyster shell and animal bone inclusions. This layer, which was 0.4–0.45m deep, was partially removed to reveal the inner facing wall of the fort. The removal of this rubble showed that the gatehouse structure was built on top of the existing cashel wall.

The archaeological excavations revealed that the gatehouse was a later addition to a pre-existing fort, and the present structure is most likely constructed on top of the original entrance.

Four artefacts were recovered during the excavations. Three of these were coins and the fourth was a fragment of a rotary quern. Two of the coins, an Irish halfpenny dated to 1932 and an American half-dollar dated to 1965, were recovered during the removal of rubble from the entrance passageway. The third coin, dating to the 1690s, was found in a crevice in the bedrock immediately east of the entrance. The rotary quern fragment was recovered from below the rubble and on top of bedrock in the south of the trench. Animal bone fragments and oyster shell remains were found in various layers, especially from the foundation of the gatehouse.

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