2005:1017 - SKEHACREGGAUN, Limerick

An assessment, including testing and monitoring, was requested by Limerick County Council in advance of a housing development at Skehacreggaun, Mungret. The development site is situated close to Mungret ecclesiastical complex, and St Nessan’s Church, possibly dating to the 10th century, is within view. The monitoring of groundworks (Excavations 2004, No. 1030) led to an extension of the licence in order to excavate a small pit and a corn-drying kiln.
The kiln construction was represented by two conjoined cuts, a drying chamber and flue, respectively. The drying chamber was sub­rectangular, 2.22m by 1.46m by 0.37m, and orientated east–west. The sides were steep to vertical and broke gradually to a flat but irregular base. The remaining depth of the cut, after modern truncation, was 0.37m. Five fills were recorded in the cut. Seven stake-holes were positioned at the internal corners of the drying chamber and were found underneath a charcoal/ash layer. The stakes would presumably have supported a rack on which cereal grains, etc., could have been dried. They may also have supported outer walls or coverings. The flue consisted of a linear cut, 3.57m long, which extended south from the drying chamber. It was severely truncated by ploughing and only a depth of 0.12m remained in places. Where best preserved, the flue was 0.61m deep and 0.32m wide. There was no evidence of the flue lining and the base was concave. As the flue ran north the base rose sharply, c. 0.4m, from the drying chamber. This can only have acted as a baffle to prevent the continuation of sparks into the chamber. There was no evidence of in situ burning or a firing area within the flue. The absence of a definable hearth area within the flue and the location of the stake-holes within the drying chamber would all appear to suggest a trial or prototype kiln. The kiln may not have been effective at this location, or perhaps the flue was aligned erroneously, thus leading to the change in position of the flue. The absence of a firing area would seem to support this hypothesis. The kiln is likely to date to the medieval period, on grounds of morphology, and radiocarbon dates are forthcoming.
Two cuts were made prior to the construction of the kiln. The first of these was subrectangular in plan with rounded corners and measured 3.38m by 0.62m by 0.36m. It had five fills, four of which had charcoal inclusions. An animal tooth was recovered from one of the fills. It is possible that the upper fills of the cut relate to the later construction of the kiln flue, whether they served to stabilise the ground here or were directly upcast from the cut. There was no evidence to suggest that this pit had remained open for any significant period of time or that it had served any clear function before being backfilled. The second pit cut was similar and was truncated by the drying chamber cut at its southern end. While irregular in plan, a general north–south orientation was discernible and it measured 1.2m by 0.76m by 0.18m. The single fill of this cut contained charcoal flecks and fragments of animal bone. The relationship between this cut and that of the drying chamber was not altogether clear and so could be interpreted in two ways: that the drying chamber is later and cut through this pit or that both cuts are contemporaneous but this pit was backfilled and disused.
An isolated circular pit was recorded c. 25m south of the kiln, measuring 0.3m in diameter, with a maximum depth of 0.15m. A chert scraper was included in the fill.
A holy well, Toberpatrick, SMR 13:9, was also located within the development site and investigative works were undertaken to decide a strategy of mitigation/conservation for it. The well was in a dilapidated condition, surviving as a depression filled with loose stones and debris which was heavily overgrown. O’Connor (2003) states that in the past a low wall had surrounded the well, evidenced by a photograph taken in 1907, but the wall no longer exists. The well is near to the western boundary of a field where a relict pilgrim path had run between Mungret Abbey and Templemungret. A painting called Blind Girl at the Holy Well by the 19th-century artist Frederick Burton, whose father owned land immediately south of Mungret Abbey, was reportedly inspired by Toberpatrick and may provide evidence of the ‘cures’ or traditions associated with the well.
The sod was removed back from the well walls in two locations and showed that the original cutting of the well was c. 1m wider than where the walls were built. It appeared that, once the walls had been built, larger limestone was backfilled behind them. Therefore, the well is a roughly square revetted void that contains a smaller subcircular holy well, with internal measurements of 2.4m by 2.8m, on its western base. All stones used in the construction were of local grey sandstone and varied in size. The walls of the holy well survived to varying degrees. The well was cleared to a maximum depth of 1.25m. It was best preserved in the south-western side, where up to seven courses were visible. No artefacts were recovered from the material that was removed from the holy well void. Furthermore, no secure ecofactual evidence was discovered and as a result the date of holy well construction, use and disuse remain unknown. The holy well site probably originates from domestic usage in the medieval period due to its proximity to the ecclesiastical complex, only later to develop into a site with religious significance. Alternatively, it could hold origins earlier than the medieval period, as many such sites held pagan significance long before the coming of Christianity.
Bibliography
O’Connor, J. 2003 On Shannon’s Shore: A History of Mungret Parish. Limerick.