2004:1844 - TEMPLETEENAUN, BALLINAGEE, Wicklow

The School of Archaeology, UCD, is currently conducting a landscape archaeology research project on the King's River valley in the west Wicklow mountains. The excavations at Templeteenaun, Co. Wicklow, aim to investigate the chronology, function and occupation history of a medieval church and enclosure that appears to have been on an early pilgrim's routeway through the mountains (St Kevin's Way) to Glendalough. A survey of the site has revealed several new features (e.g. enclosure wall, cairns, laneway, houses, cill’n grave markers) on the site. From 2 to 13 August 2004, UCD's School of Archaeology also carried out an excavation on the site as part of a third-year undergraduate field-training programme.

The Templeteenaun medieval church and enclosure is situated in Ballinagee townland, Co. Wicklow, on a low ridge located on the south-facing mountain slope of Carrigagunneen, with excellent views to the south down into the valley of the King's River and the mountains beyond. The church itself is located at the north-west corner of a small enclosure. The church survives as the lower levels of the walls of a rectangular building, oriented east-west, with walls of coursed large stones (width 1m, height 0.45m). The building has a nave (5.2m by 3.8m internally) and a chancel (2m by 2m internally), with a probable gap for a doorway at the west end of the south wall. This appears then to be a medieval church of simple nave-and-chancel plan, possibly dating to the 11th-12th century AD (and after), and can be closely paralleled with several medieval churches, such as Trinity Church and Reefert, in Glendalough, just across the Wicklow Gap.

The church is located within a quadrangular enclosure (40m north-south by 30m) of a low but substantial stone wall. The wall typically measures 1m in height by 1.6m in width. There is an internal ditch on the south side and an external ditch (1m in width, 0.5m depth) on the north-east side. There is an original gap at the east side, defined by a stone-lined entrance 1m in width. In the south-east and south-west 'corners' of the site are at least two cairns (2m east-west by 1.7m). These cairns are mounds of stone and earth, and the example in the south-east is distinctly kerbed around its north side, with quartz stones lying beside it. These kerbed cairns may be either beehive huts or penitential stations or leachta associated with medieval pilgrimage or saints' grave markers. These features may prove to be significant in interpreting the archaeology and history of the site. A possible cill’n graveyard is located in the eastern and south-eastern quadrants of the site. Directly to the south-east of the church there are a few upright hewn granite slabs that appear to have been taken from the walls of the church. These stones may be burial markers from the post-medieval period but are unlikely to be very recent, as the 19th-century OS stated that the site was 'an old burying ground not now much frequented which is called Teampall Fionain - Templefynan - signifying the Temple of S. Finan'. There is also little or no local folklore that the cill’n was used in the 20th century.

Immediately outside the western entrance, on its north side, there is a small rectangular building attached to the external face of the enclosure wall. This is defined by low, narrow walls (1m in width, 0.3m in height). This building (c. 6m east-west by 3m internally) was probably not a substantial structure, possibly of low earthen and stone walls. Its location immediately outside the entrance to a possible early medieval enclosure implies that it may have been a pilgrims' hostel or sleeping place for visitors, as has been identified at early medieval monastic enclosures in the west of Ireland (e.g. at High Island, Co. Galway). Leading away from the entrance into the enclosure is a narrow, crudely defined laneway. This turns down the slope to the south and gradually disappears. Close to the site entrance it is defined by a low bank (1m in width, 0.3m in height) on either side. This may have been a lane leading down from the site entrance to the possible route of St Kevin's Way c. 100m to the south.

Three trenches were laid across the site. Trench 1 was placed at the western entrance to the main enclosure, across the laneway and including the possible extra-mural building. Although further excavation is required, this trench confirmed the presence of a substantial cobbled laneway leading up to the site entrance, bounded on either side by low stone walls. It also indicated that there is indeed a probable building or enclosure feature just outside the entrance. Finds from the upper soil layers include up to 60 sherds of medieval pottery, including Leinster cooking ware, as well as Dublin-type fine wares or imported wares. Trench 2 was laid across the southern boundary of the enclosure wall. This provided valuable information on the construction of the wall, indicating that a rough, unmortared wall of large granite stones and boulders had been surmounted by sods that had been dug up from a shallow ditch from inside the wall (in a traditional Wicklow wall-building fashion). A single sherd of medieval pottery in the base of this ditch may date this wall to the medieval period. Trench 3 was placed on the eastern side of the boundary wall, investigating its relationship with a wall from a larger field system.

The placename and archaeological and historical evidence can be used to propose the following hypothetical model for activity on the site. Phase 1: Early medieval (9th-10th-century), possibly a church, on the earliest St Kevin's pilgrims' route, either enclosed or unenclosed. Phase 2: late medieval church (13th-14th-century), a medieval church, possibly known as 'Capella de Villa Harold' and used as a hostel on a route across the mountains and perhaps also a parochial church for the pastoral care of local communities. Phase 3: post-medieval burial ground or cill’n (19th-century) situated around an ancient, abandoned church ('the long house') within a field known as 'Church Park'. Phase 4: modern reuse as a field, although there is a surprising lack of any modern pottery or finds from the site. The intention is to return to this site in 2005.

School of Archaeology, UCD