County: Donegal Site name: Grianán of Aileach, Carrowreagh
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DG047–012 Licence number: 04E1281 ext.
Author: Declan Moore, Moore Archaeological & Environmental Services Ltd, Corporate House, Ballybrit Business Park, Ballybrit, Galway.
Site type: Monitoring
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 637307m, N 918945m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 55.016667, -7.416667
A programme of archaeological survey and monitoring was carried out at the site of Grianán of Aileach hillfort in County Donegal between May and November 2007. The work was undertaken on behalf of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
As with previous years, a plan of the existing terraces and steps was prepared. This was used in conjunction with a reconstruction photograph guide of the façade in order to complete reconstruction as closely as possible to the original structure. Numbering of steps and selected surface stones on the internal terraces was also carried out using a water-soluble paint.
The work also involved the sieving and metal detection of internal fill material, supervision of the pouring of a concrete slab and the supervision of the subsequent rebuild.
None of the steps or the lower (possibly original) courses of the wall were removed. All possible original material remained in situ. All of the material removed was judged to have been 19th- and 20th-century rebuild. No evidence of the original structure was observed.
During the four seasons of work supervised by the author (see also Excavations 2004, No. 387, and Excavations 2006, No. 444) no evidence of earlier fill was uncovered. At all the rebuilt locations, evidence of 19th- and 20th-century reconstruction work was recovered, including 19th-century pottery, glass sherds, modern chocolate-bar wrappers and cement-slab material above the northern passageway. It is clear that much repair work, both recorded and unrecorded, has been carried out at Grianán an Aileach throughout the last 100 or more years.
