County: Galway Site name: RAHALLY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: GA086-213 Licence number: 04E0803
Author: Jerry O'Sullivan, National Roads Design Office
Site type: Field system
Period/Dating: Early Medieval (AD 400-AD 1099)
ITM: E 565868m, N 725998m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.283207, -8.511837
The remains of an early field system straddle the route of the proposed N6 Galway-Ballinasloe road scheme on the north face of a hill in Rahally in east Galway. A bivallate ringfort (SMR 86:211) stands on the hill summit and there are remains of a second ringfort on a nearby hillslope in the neighbouring townland of Cloonyconaun.
Several hand-dug test-trenches were excavated by Martin Jones at the site in December 2003 (Excavations 2003, No. 751, 03E1871). These confirmed that the field system had consisted of linear bank and ditch boundaries but failed to find significant evidence for extramural settlement associated with the adjacent ringforts.
A geophysical survey was subsequently conducted on the site, which identified extensive remains of cultivation on the hill slope in the form of groups of furrows, apparently post-dating the early field system. Some surface traces of these survived in a few areas and generally agreed with the orientation of those seen as geophysical anomalies.
More extensive testing by machine was directed by the writer in June 2004. No evidence was found to suggest that the visible remains of the early field system had once been more complex or extensive than previously observed, but elements of an earlier phase of enclosures or boundary features was discovered at three locations, consisting of large ditch cuts. These appear to pre-date the smaller, standing bank remnants of the visible field system. They cannot be dated on present evidence but a charcoal deposit from the base of one of the ditches could supply a terminus ante quem date for these features and a radiocarbon date is recommended.
Testing also discovered frequent deposits of burnt sediment within the ploughsoil at numerous locations on the hillslope. There were no surviving settlements or industrial features by which this activity could be dated or characterised. Burnt sediment is attributed to early modern agricultural practices contemporary with the furrows detected by geophysical survey. Some furrows were seen in the bases of test-trenches but most were not as well defined as in survey plots.
On the whole, the features at Rahally appear to represent a palimpsest of settlement and agricultural/pastoral enclosures of various dates spanning from at least the early medieval period to modern times. The area within the road corridor is unlikely to yield much evidence for the settlement history of the site but does have the potential to yield further information on early field systems or enclosures. Full excavation of the area within the road-take is recommended.
Galway County Council
