County: Roscommon Site name: Kilbegly 2
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A034; E3369
Author: Neil Jackman, for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd, Brehon House, Kilkenny Road, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny.
Site type: Early medieval horizontal mill with adjacent possible prehistoric burnt mound
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 589991m, N 730080m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.320895, -8.150225
The site of Kilbegly 2 was excavated as part of the N6 Ballinasloe to Athlone national road scheme. Work was commissioned by Galway County Council and funded by the National Roads Authority. Excavations at the site were carried out between May and August 2007. Post-excavation work is ongoing and any interpretations are preliminary.
The site lay at an altitude of 49m OD in a wetland area at the base of a large irregular-shaped hill. An area of 775m2 was hand-excavated and the remarkably well-preserved remains of a horizontal mill of possible early medieval date were found. The majority of features were encountered at a depth of 0.8m below the ground surface.
As well as post-and-wattle mill-race channels, a post-and-wattle overflow channel, a millpond delineated by post-and-wattle and large reused timbers, an intact wooden flume with a plated aperture and jet-deflector, the near complete remains of the lower floor of the undercroft and a large tail-race containing a wooden platform, reused timber base-plates (c. 5m long and 0.3m wide) and small, dressed, wooden pegs and artefacts were found. A number of timber and non-timber artefacts were also recovered including a bell-shaped wheel hub, two paddles, withy ropes, leather fragments, lignite bracelets, a copper-alloy ring-pin, a whetstone and a complete wooden shovel.
This site is possibly associated with a nearby early medieval churchyard (Kilbegly churchyard, RO054–026, RO054–27 (01, 02 and 03), and Kilbegly 1, A034, E3329, No. 1493 above, a site that contained a possible early medieval cereal-drying kiln.
A burnt mound consisting of charcoal and heat-affected stones was situated 30m north-east of the mill remains and was interpreted as being of prehistoric date. Due to modern agricultural activity the site was poorly preserved. The mound measured a maximum of 8.2m by 6.3m and was 0.4m thick. A well-preserved wattle-lined trough was located below the approximate centre of the mound. The trough was oval in shape and measured 1.62m by 1.12m and a maximum of 0.4m in depth. There was some evidence of moss lining around the wattle, which may have served as a caulking or filtration agent.
