County: Mayo Site name: AGHAGOWER
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: CO30
Author: Sue Zajac, Mayo County Council
Site type: Ecclesiastical enclosure
Period/Dating: Medieval (AD 400-AD 1600)
ITM: E 503401m, N 780306m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.763396, -9.465093
Construction of a sewage scheme in the village of Aghagower required pre-development testing followed by monitoring of the groundworks. Though nothing was found during testing, monitoring later recorded a substantial ditch that was partially uncovered in the east and north-east sector of the village. The ditch, located just below the tarmac surface, seemed to follow the line of the street pattern in this area and may have formerly enclosed the ecclesiastical remains, which also include a round tower. The base of the ditch had a rich organic fill with frequent inclusions of animal bone and wood.
A small quantity of human bone was found in the same area against the external face of a stone wall that now delimits the graveyard and partly overlies the ditch. A horizontal millstone, previously uncovered during house construction, was recorded in the east sector of the village.
Ballina Civic Offices, Dillion Terrace, Ballina, Co. Mayo
