County: Galway Site name: CLOONKEENKERRIL
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 72:14 Licence number: 00E0553
Author: Martin Fitzpatrick, Arch. Consultancy Ltd.
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 561164m, N 737407m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.385402, -8.583776
Pre-development testing was requested as a condition of a planning permission application to construct a new sun lounge and septic tank/ percolation area at Cloonkeenkerril, Colmanstown, Co. Galway. The proposed development site is located on the east side of the roadway, in an area of flat grassland, with the ruins of St Kerrill’s Abbey and graveyard located to the south-east and numerous earthworks to the east and south. While the development does not infringe on St Kerrill’s Abbey or graveyard, the percolation/septic tank will be located in a field that contains a number of earthworks possibly associated with the abbey. The proximity of the development to the earthworks and abbey necessitated pre-development testing.
Marked on both the first (1838) and subsequent editions of the OS maps, the abbey at Cloonkeenkerrill is in ruins today. It stands within a graveyard on the top of a gentle rise with a good aspect all around. The abbey currently consists of the east half of a roofless church with a southern transept. According to local tradition, it is the site of an early church founded by St Kerrill. It was later occupied by a medieval parish church, but this was converted into a monastery for the Franciscan Third Order in c. 1435 (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 246, 269–70). Only the east end of the church survives, and it has considerable modern repair work. The transept is dominated by a fine triple-light traceried window in the south gable and is also lit by two small windows in the east wall. The graveyard, which is roughly quadrangular, is occupied by mainly 19th–20th-century graves, with the oldest visible graves set into the wall of the church.
A number of earthworks are visible in the fields surrounding the abbey and graveyard, particularly concentrated in the pasture field to the north of the abbey. These have been significantly destroyed by quarrying in the past, and cultivation ridges are visible overlying a number of the banks. The earthworks consist of earthen banks varying between 1m and 2m in width and rarely exceeding 1m in height. In some places small stones are visible within the bank material. The earthworks do not appear to form a definite pattern or plan, but this may be because of disturbance in the recent past.
One trench was mechanically excavated, located at the south of the house along the line of the proposed septic tank and percolation area. Orientated north-east/south-west, it was 18m long, 1m wide and was excavated to a depth of 0.8m. No features or artefacts of archaeological significance were encountered.
Reference
Gwynn, A. and Hadcock, R.N. 1970 Medieval religious houses: Ireland. Dublin.
Ballydavid South, Athenry, Co. Galway
