County: Galway Site name: RATHGLASS
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 05E0109
Author: Margaret McCarthy, Archaeological Services Unit, University College Cork
Site type: Bullaun stone
Period/Dating: Early Medieval (AD 400-AD 1099)
ITM: E 567578m, N 725454m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.278426, -8.486130
A test excavation was undertaken at Rathglass, Kilreekill, Co. Galway, as part of a series of site investigations prior to the construction of a natural gas pipeline from New Inn to Tynagh. The excavation was undertaken following the removal of a bullaun stone which was discovered during the initial phase of field survey in 2003. The stone was found lying in a wet rushy field along the proposed route of the gas pipeline. The impact assessment recommended that the bullaun stone be moved to a safe location and that a test excavation be carried out at the exact location of the find. It was agreed, following consultation with the staff of the National Monuments Service and the National Museum, that the stone be moved to the grounds of Rathglass House, which is located c. 200m to the east of the original findspot. Two cloth slings were placed around the stone and it was then moved by a mini-excavator to the front garden. The natural subsoil was exposed beneath the stone and hand excavation of a 1m by 2m area around the base revealed no surface anomalies that could be interpreted as archaeological deposits.
An inspection of the outbuildings attached to Rathglass House led to the discovery of an ogee-headed window built into the main gateway leading into the courtyard of the farmyard. The wall on the northern side of the gateway had collapsed, but the presence of some chamfered limestone fragments in the rubble suggested that the entrance to the courtyard was flanked by two finely carved ogee-headed windows. These windows and the bullaun stone may have originated from an early ecclesiastical site in the locality.
