County: Clare Site name: CLONMONEY WEST
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 01E0242
Author: Deirdre Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Habitation site
Period/Dating: Medieval (AD 400-AD 1600)
ITM: E 543066m, N 662360m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.709366, -8.842524
Prior to the construction phase of the Dromoland to Ballycasey Road Improvement Scheme Phase II, a number of earthen linear banks were detected in the townland of Clonmoney West. It was decided to strip the area of topsoil to establish the significance of the site (AR42A). It immediately became apparent that the site was archaeological in nature and it was subsequently excavated.
The site was on a natural promontory overlooking the Shannon estuary and the area exposed measured approximately 8368m2. The removal of the topsoil revealed three linear stone walls and a number of spreads. Two of the walls towards the western end of the site were possible boundaries and finds, including a copper thimble and button, confirmed that they were post-medieval in date. The third wall (F003), extending in an east–west direction, was located towards the centre of the site close to the northern fence line of the road and was unrelated to the boundary walls. Similar linear banks were evident in the field to the north of the road, and in all likelihood these were grass-covered stone walls that formed an enclosure. The majority of this site, therefore, existed outside the road-take, and as it was not under threat from the present development it was not excavated.
A radiocarbon date of 1600–1340 BP (AD 350–610) was obtained from a charcoal sample takenfrom a deposit beneath the wall (F003). This would suggest that the site was occupied from Early Christian times.
Numerous finds were recovered from the wall, including a whetstone, a silver Edward III coin (1344–51), an undecorated roof tile and a decorated rotary quern fragment. A copper-alloy pin and a chip from a polished stone axe were recovered from the deposit beneath the wall. Some of these finds are medieval in date and it is likely, therefore, that the site was occupied from Early Christian to late medieval times. The finds would suggest a domestic function for the site although its location on a natural promontory would be more in keeping with a defended settlement.
No further structures or features were recovered within the road-take but it is almost certain that they survive in the field to the north, where low linear banks are evident. The wall exposed during this excavation marks only the southern limit of the archaeological site and hence only represents a small percentage of it. Judging by the number of finds recovered from this small section of wall, it is highly probable that the field to the north may yield a large quantity of finds or artefacts as well as structural evidence.
15 Trinity Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth
