2006:1710 - BOYLE ABBEY, Roscommon

Excavations are being carried out at Boyle Abbey in conjunction with a conservation project undertaken by the Office of Public Works. Phase 1 of the excavations were conducted between July and September 2006 and focused on the area of the north aisle wall towards the west end of the church. The purpose of the excavation was to uncover the remains of the original north wall of the church, which is no longer extant aboveground. The foundations of the wall (F19) were uncovered at a depth of c. 1.6m below present ground level. The wall had been largely robbed out at some time during the military occupation of the abbey, although several courses of the north-west corner of the west wall survived to a height of c. 1m. A trench excavated to facilitate the robbing out of the north wall caused a significant amount of disturbance on the site. Consequently, a large amount of disarticulated human remains were recovered from the fill of the robber trench.

Articulated human burials were uncovered on the site, largely to the south of the F19 north wall foundation. The burials were orientated east–west and were contained within simple unlined grave-cuts. In some cases, however, a formal grave-cut was not discernible. Due to the high level of disturbance on the site, in situ medieval deposits within the excavation were confined to a c. 0.5–1m-wide area on either side of the robber trench. A small number of medieval pottery sherds, a medieval coin and a stick pin were recovered as well as a fragment of a grave slab.

Later, possibly 19th-century military activity was represented on the site by two stone-built walls and two cobbled surfaces (F8/F10 and F13). F13 contained reused architectural stone. Phase 2 of the excavations will be located to the east of Phase 1 and will extend further into the north aisle of the church.

15 Willowfields, Ladysbridge, Castlemartyr, Co. Cork