County: Mayo Site name: TREANGARROW
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 06E0744
Author: Joanna Nolan, Mayo County Council
Site type: Fulacht fia
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 516769m, N 822108m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.141243, -9.273806
Two areas of burnt-mound material were revealed in topsoil-stripping on the route of the Ballina regional water supply scheme, Stage 4A, in Treangarrow (Spread 1) and Balloughadalla (Spread 2, see No. 1407, Excavations 2006) townland. Neither of these sites had showed any surface traces prior to the topsoil-stripping and both seem to have previously been levelled, either by land improvement works or by the adjacent road.
Spread 1 was situated in very disturbed ground beside the Crossmolina to Killala road. This area was crossed by several field drains of various construction types (stone, ceramic pipes), which accounts for the amount of disturbance to the burnt stone. The site survived as five patches of burnt sandstone that were resting on either peat or compacted grey/white boulder clay. The wayleave was about 23m wide at this point; the spread of burnt-mound material extended across all of this area in discrete patches, occupying an area of about 19.5m. None of these deposits seem to be very deep except at the north-west edge, where a wooden boiling trough appeared to survive. It was visible as two parallel pieces of timber set on edge and protruding from one of the pockets of burnt stone on the north-west edge of the wayleave.
However, when uncovered these wood fragments were found to be the surviving sides of what appeared to be a wooden dugout canoe or log boat. One of the larger stone drains had clipped the top of the dugout and broken off the sides at one end, but otherwise it was in good condition.
The dugout was lying north-west/south-east and appeared as a hollowed-out tree trunk, U-shaped in profile. It measured 2.6m north-west/south-east and ranged in width from 0.42 to 0.62m; it was 0.3m in depth where no damage had occurred. The upper edges were thin, no more than 0.1m wide, the base or keel was 0.1m thick. At either end the hollowing out process had been modified: instead of being hollowed out, these ends had been left flat to create a raised ‘shelf’. Towards the south-east end of the boat a raised block had also been left unhollowed out, possibly to add structural stability to the dugout. This artefact was examined by Dr Niall Gregory, who identified it as a dugout trough, not a logboat.
The area of natural adjacent to this trough was dotted with 57 post-holes, indicating that there was some form of structure, a rack or windbreak, here.
About 1m south-south-west of this artefact a second, more complex, trough was found. It was lying about 0.5m lower than the dugout trough and may have been abandoned in favour of the dugout trough because of rising water. This area was subject to flooding prior to drainage works.
This second trough was complex. The base and sides were plank-built using split-timbers and the gaps between the planks were caulked with moss. Either end was formed by curved, ‘dugout’, timbers which appear to have been formed by splitting large logs and hollowing them to make concave rectangular ends. These were set on end and supported with upright stakes. This trough was lying north-west/south-east, measured 1.7m by 0.65m and was 0.4m in depth
Roadbridge Compound, Breaffey Road, Castlebar, Co. Mayo
