2008:1149 - St Ruadhán’s Church, Lorrha, Tipperary

Excavation was undertaken in advance of conservation work on the west wall of the pre-Romanesque church. The investigation was funded by the National Monuments Section of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Work was started in January 2008 and was completed in February 2008. It comprised excavations within the ‘priest’s residence’ on both the ground and first floors and an exploratory trench along the western wall. Three main phases of activity were identified.
Phase 1 consisted of evidence for activity predating the church. Excavation within the west end of the church identified two extended and supine inhumations which were truncated by the foundation trench of the north wall of the church. Both were aligned east to west and are believed to be Christian burials. It is hoped that radiocarbon dating of elements of these burials will assist with understanding the chronology of the development of the church.
Phase 2 was the construction and use of the church and its associated cemetery. The external exploratory trench excavated along the base of the west gable exposed the foundations of the church. These consisted of a rubble make-up with no bonding and were slightly off-line with the church superstructure. Part of the cemetery which developed around the church was investigated in the external trench. Articulated human skeletal remains were identified directly beneath the turf and, in a number of cases, these had been disturbed by the construction of the path which ran parallel to the west wall of the church. A total of 42 fully and partially articulated human skeletons were excavated, all with an east to west orientation, an extended supine posture and no evidence of a coffin. In addition, nine discrete deposits of disarticulated bone were also discovered. All the inhumations identified in the external trench respected the standing wall of the church and are therefore interpreted as post-dating the construction of the church. Three objects of note were recovered from the graveyard soil, two dress pins and a medieval coin. The coin has been provisionally identified as depicting John, Lord of Ireland (late 12th century).
Phase 3 consisted of the later medieval/early post-medieval alterations for the ‘priest’s residence’ at the west end of the church. A barrel vault was inserted into the west end of the church to form a priest’s residence probably in the 15th/16th century. This formed a two-storey residence with internal dimensions on the ground floor of c. 7.5m by 2.75m. The floor consisted of a thin layer of very compacted clay. This was sealed by an organic-rich soil which contained modern finds.
Access to the first floor was via a mural staircase in the south wall. The turf and topsoil were removed from the surface of the barrel vault. A circular stone setting with a diameter of 3.2m was discovered below the topsoil and sitting on the surface of the barrel vault. This stone platform is believed to be reasonably modern but no function could be determined. The surface of the barrel vault was also exposed. Although no in situ evidence was recovered for the nature of the floor, sockets were noted in the west and east walls for the joists of a timber floor.