2006:718 - CASTLETOWN MONEA: Monea Castle, Fermanagh

The excavation of a 0.6m2 trench, 0.45m deep, was requested by EHS: Built Heritage, to receive a pedestal interpretative panel. The post-hole was located just outside the bawn of Monea Castle (FER191–061) in Castletown Monea townland and was offset at least 1m from a pathway which is contemporary with the castle. As the works were to be carried out within the scheduled area of the site, a scheduled monument consent was obtained (B4/95).

Monea Castle is a Plantation period castle. It was constructed in 1618 for Malcolm Hamilton and the bawn was added four years later. It was captured by the native Irish during the rebellion of 1641 but was subsequently recaptured and by 1688 it served as the residence of the Governor of Enniskillen. A formal avenue and gardens are associated with the site, to the north of the castle. The avenue is still used as the formal approach to the site and the garden features are partially visible on aerial photographs. The interior of the bawn is known to be cobbled.

The excavation was carried out by hand on 24 January 2006. Directly underneath 0.14m of topsoil was a rough stone surface. The stones were sub-rounded to angular, mostly sandstone and of various sizes. Some of the stones were thin and flat but none resembled cobbles. It appeared that this layer of stones had been roughly compacted by trampling. This layer had a depth of c. 0.04m. Underlying this was a build-up of brown silty sand with sandstone inclusions. It had a depth of c. 0.07m. Below this was another stone surface; like the stratigraphically later surface it appeared to be a compacted layer of stone but no deliberately set stones were evident. This layer was up to 0.13m deep and overlay a deposit of dark-brown sand with flecks of decayed stone. When the excavation was completed to the required depth of 0.45m, the pedestal interpretative panel was inserted and the ground reinstated.

The sequence of stratigraphy uncovered during excavation of the post-hole appears to represent a sequence of activity related to the castle. The earliest context excavated represents a build-up of material prior to the creation of the earliest stone surface excavated. It is not clear if there was any earlier activity, since the excavation was not sufficiently deep to allow investigation of earlier contexts or to encounter the subsoil. It is likely that the stone surfaces are pathways related to the castle separated by a build-up of soil. The later stone surface was presumably created to consolidate or replace the earlier one. The only deposit overlying the later stone surface was the topsoil, so it seems that this surface was the last phase of activity associated with the castle in this location.

School of Geography Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University, Belfast, BT7 1NN