2007:1719 - Rockforest, Tipperary

This site was identified during testing along the route of the proposed N7 Castletown to Nenagh road improvement scheme. Excavation was carried out during June and July 2007.
Three areas were stripped of topsoil revealing the foundations of a 19th-century schoolhouse and three burnt mounds, the latter located along the side of a steep slope overlooking a bog.
The foundation courses of the schoolhouse were constructed directly on sloping bedrock on a prominent knoll and ranged in height from 0.2 to 0.85m and were 0.7m thick. They were constructed from large flat sandstones. One side wall and both end walls were present, indicating the building measured 11m by 5.1m. The entrance was located midway along the front wall. Numerous sherds of modern china and roof/slate nails were recorded. A series of roof tiles were identified, some bearing the stamp ‘W. Hancock & Co. Ltd, Hawarden, Buckley’, a tile manufacturer based in Buckley, Flintshire, in Chester. The school was known locally as ‘the old Bog School’. It appears to have been built in the late 19th century and fallen into disrepair sometime around 1900, when the National School in the nearby village of Knock was built.
Burnt mound 1 measured 11m by 11m and 0.5m deep. Beneath it was an oval trough that measured 1.23m by 0.92m and 0.54m deep and was filled with a large amount of burnt stone and charcoal. Four large flat sandstones were lying on its base. Five other irregularly shaped pits were also recorded under the mound surrounding the main trough. These too contained varying amounts of charcoal and burnt stone. Their dimensions ranged from 1m by 0.8m and 0.2m deep to 4.8m by 2.14m and 0.6m deep.
Burnt mound 2 was the smallest of the three. It measured 9.5m by 5.5m and 0.2m deep and consisted of burnt stone and charcoal. One oval trough was recorded beneath that measured 2.72m by 1.94m and 0.38m deep. It was filled with charcoal and burnt stones.
Burnt mound 3 was located partially on bedrock, part of which appeared to have been quarried, with quarry waste dumped in some areas. The mound measured 21m east–west by 19m and 0.6–0.7m deep. Two possible troughs/pits were recorded under the western half of the mound. The first was rectangular in shape with rounded ends and measured 5.08m by 1.9m and 0.22m and was filled by burnt stones. The second was c. 2m to the south-east of the first and was circular in shape and measured 2.15m by 2.1m and 0.5m deep. Its southern edge was very shallow, possibly due to the severe slope. It was filled with frequent amounts of charcoal and stones.