2003:0016 - KILROOT: The Bishop’s Palace, Antrim

The 2003 investigations were undertaken following the collapse of a wall retaining the modern graveyard at the Bishop’s Palace, Kilroot. A number of modern graves were damaged during the collapse and archaeological investigation of the 30m by 1.5m footprint for the new wall was initiated by Environment and Heritage Service: Built Heritage. Kilroot is claimed to be a 6th-century bishopric and is associated with St Colman Ela or Elo (AD 553–610). He was the son of Beogna and Mor, the sister of St Columba, and was born in Co. Tyrone. In the 6th century there is evidence of a compact between the Bishop of Connor and the Abbot of Kells. The Abbot appointed the Vicar, and the Bishop laid claim to the income for the lands of Kilroot Manor. A replica of a bullaun stone marks the former location of a medieval chuch in the modern graveyard. The Bishop’s Palace was constructed at the start of the 17th century and traces of a bawn still survive, although the history of the building has not been studied in detail. Jonathan Swift was Prebend at Kilroot in 1695–96, at which time a family named Brice lived in the Bishop’s Palace. Dovecotes, modification of the bawn walls and the creation of paths suggest continued occupation into the 18th century.

Monitoring and test excavations were undertaken in June 2003. The wall material was removed in August, when headstones, fragments of grave surrounds, railings and concrete flagstones were recovered. Some human bone was recovered from the wall fill, but it could not be determined whether this material had become part of the fabric of the wall or if it had come from material that slumped onto the wall following the original collapse.

Three test-pits, Trenches 1–3, each measuring 2m by 1m, were excavated along the proposed line of the wall. On the basis of the results (outlined below), full excavation proceeded in November 2003 directed by Philip Macdonald and Finbar McCormick (see No. 17, Excavations 2003).

Trench 1 was located at the former mid-point of the wall. Human bones and some struck flints were recovered from the upper deposits in the trench. Excavation was continued for the eastern half of the trench only, due to the presence of disarticulated human remains. At 0.8m below the present ground surface an articulated femur and hand bones were uncovered, suggesting that a roughly east–west-orientated, extended inhumation was present. A number of bones overlying the femur and hand bones did not appear to derive from the same burial and may represent a second burial within the same grave or the remains of a second burial disturbed by the first.

There was no indication of date from the small portion of the burial(s) identified in the trench, since the location of the grave-cut was not determined. At this point excavation in the trench ceased. The remains were covered in plastic and loose soil and the trench backfilled.

Trench 2 was located 1m east of the corner of the Bishop’s Palace. The surface deposit was a dark-brown silty loam which contained rubble and crushed mortar. This was present to a depth of 0.2m, where a mid-brown sandy clay was encountered. This deposit was present for a depth of 0.26m, or 0.46m below present ground level. At a depth of 0.56m a human skull was exposed. There was no clear indication of date from the portion of the burial identified in the trench. The remains were covered in plastic and loose soil and the trench backfilled.

Trench 3 was located 3m west of the bawn wall. The surface deposit was a dark-brown silty loam and was present to a depth of 0.2m. Its removal exposed part of a stone setting along the edge of the trench. The first-edition OS map (1833) shows a path at this location, apparently aligned on a breach in the bawn wall and the corner of the Bishop’s Palace. The stone setting was retained in situ, and only the north-eastern portion of the trench was excavated. At a depth of 0.35m a compact mid-brown clay was encountered with an uneven base that sloped down towards the east. Finds from this deposit included a sherd of green-glazed pottery with an orange-red fabric, an everted-rim ware rim sherd and a sherd of souterrain ware. Some animal bone and struck and retouched flint were also retrieved from this context. Excavation of this trench was discontinued at a depth of 0.35m.

Queen’s University, Belfast BT7 1NN