2007:1456 - Clynoe 2, Offaly

Phase 2 excavations along 17.1km (Contact 1) of the 35km N7 Castletown to Nenagh (Derrinsallagh to Ballintotty) national road scheme were commissioned by Laois County Council and the National Roads Authority. Contract 1 comprises the western half of the scheme and runs from Clashnevin to Castelroan, passing along the Tipperary North and Offaly county border regions.
The ringfort OF046–013 is illustrated on the first-edition OS map (1835) as a banked and ditched enclosure. The site has been severely truncated since then. In the mid-19th century a local road was built down the western half of the enclosure and a 20th-century farmyard has impacted on the northern bank. The interior of the ringfort has been filled in and raised.
Two segments of the ringfort ditch were observed within the area of excavation. The first segment ran from underneath the furthermost southern baulk, 9.25m to the north. The second segment of ditch ran from underneath the furthermost northern baulk, 11.5m to the south. They are c. 2.2m in width. Three layers of modern material overlay the fills of the northern segment of the ditch, on the interior of the ringfort. At the most northern and southern extents of the ditch, it curved towards the east, continuing to form the circular ditch around the ringfort. The termini of the two ditches left a gap facing west c. 6.9m in width, most probably representing the entrance to the ringfort. A single pit was observed within the interior of the ringfort. It was subcircular in shape, measured 0.55m in diameter and contained multiple post-medieval finds including iron objects.
The excavation has revealed the remains of a truncated enclosure. The nature of the archaeological stratigraphy, in particular the shallow ditch, raises the question of whether the site should be classified as a ringfort.