2009:716 - TULSK, Roscommon

The site of Tulsk Fort is being investigated as part of the Discovery Programme’s ^Medieval Rural Settlement Project’ (2002–10), which is studying the nature of Gaelic lordship in north Roscommon as a counterpoint to its examination of Anglo-Norman settlement in the east of the country. The excavation lies adjacent to the site of Tulsk Castle built in 1406, and is also close to a Dominican priory founded in 1446/7. Situated at the centre of Tulsk village, Tulsk Fort is a raised ringfort and may be considered to have served as a central residence for the O’Conor Roe lords from the end of the 14th century. Archaeological excavation has been conducted seasonally since 2004 with the assistance of many volunteers and was concluded in 2009. The location of the excavated area was informed by a comprehensive geophysical survey of the site. A 6mwide by 55m-long trench was opened across the ringfort’s interior. An extension was made to include much of the north-east corner of the site, while a single short trench was opened off the north-west side of the mound to investigate a pair of parallel banks. The 2009 season was dedicated to bottoming-out the medieval deposits observed in the course of previous seasons, and reaffirming the principal stratigraphic profile. The following account summarises the principal observations at the close of the excavation.
Two prehistoric levels were identified at depth during the course of the site work. The prehistoric strata reach back to the later Mesolithic period and were only glimpsed, but they represent two distinct sealed contexts which belong to activity on the edge of a small mound that would have formed a natural core to the site of the later ringfort enclosure.
The ringfort is defined by an earthen bank and external ditch, with several layers of activity represented within the interior space. The bank is revetted internally by a stone wall fa%ade, while the outer ditch drops 3m to a narrow V-shaped bottom. Activity within the ringfort’s interior reveals a series of occupation levels, while two fire-pits are thought to be associated with a former corn-drying kiln. The interior of the ringfort was raised, creating a c. 1mhigh platform, and an internal ditch was cut through the east side of the site, separating and distinguishing this narrow space from the rest of the enclosed area. An infant burial was recovered from a point that is cut into the primary early medieval occupation deposit but is itself buried by the raising event. It is anticipated that the burial will serve as an important dating opportunity for this transitional phase on the site.
A distinct later medieval stratum was observed above and cutting through the pre-existing early medieval horizons. The later activity included the construction of a masonry tower, which straddles the east side of the site. The ruined foundations survive for a building that measured c. 20m long by c. 10m wide externally, and the building was constructed in a series of phases. The building of the tower led to a recutting of the internal ditch and a filling-in and recutting of the outer ditch associated with the ringfort. The later medieval external ditch was U-shaped in profile and was both wider and shallower than its predecessor. Reworking of the internal ditch also established a wider feature in the later medieval period, but it seems to have been cut slightly deeper than its predecessor. The tower retains a substantial foundation trench that was cut through underlying levels until firm boulder clay was reached. The trench is filled with up to eight courses of roughly laid stonework. It appears that a second stage of wall foundation was added to the north side of the tower, and that both this additional area and the main eastern side were joined by the construction of a well-made and battered stone fa%ade, which retains a rounded north-east corner and a garderobe chute. In contrast, the inner or eastern wall of the tower was not battered and the north-west corner is formed as a simple right angle. The southern corners of the tower remain outside the excavated area. The tower collapsed but a 15m-long by 9m-wide hall was rebuilt from the fallen rubble against the eastern side of the tower, and runs across the partially filled-in outer ditch. The hall also collapsed in due course, and the rubble which filled the outer ditch from this event was not reused in any significant way. The site was reoccupied in the early modern period, and various strata from this period have accumulated over the ruins of the medieval tower and across the site’s interior space. A distribution of large flat stones is interpreted as the foundation supports for former timber-framed buildings, while the remains of a stone-built cellar were observed on the north side of the site. Excavation revealed a thick level of burned material at the base of the cellar and this is considered to have been a collapsed roof. Large amounts of metalworking were recovered from the early modern deposits on the eastern side of the site. A sequence of coins was also recovered along with musket and pistol shot and iron arrowheads. The small finds suggest the generally military nature of the assemblage, which is dated to the 1580s and later. The Queen’s Governor to Connacht, Sir Richard Bingham, visited Tulsk in the 1590s and garrisoned the settlement. It seems clear that such works extended to include the site of Tulsk Fort, which would have presented a useful defensive elevation on the north-east side of the wider settlement.

Following these events, the site appears to have been abandoned during the 18th century. A relict field boundary running up against the mound’s east side was cut across the collapsed hall and external ditch, and indicates a moment when Tulsk Fort served only as agricultural land.
A ground-penetrating radar survey was undertaken following the completion of the excavation, and this work has provided further insight into the immediate context of the features exposed. The stone tower is the only substantial building constructed on the site with deep foundations, while the trend observed in the flagstones of the early modern period is continued outside the excavated area to the south.
The manual excavation of the site was supported by comprehensive environmental sampling, animal-bone collection and artefact retrieval. A very rich body of ecofactual and artefactual material is being processed and analysed, and represents one of few large rural assemblages in the west of Ireland. In many respects, the excavation at Tulsk Fort has recovered a body of information that was far greater than anticipated. In addition to being able to make contributions to the wider discussions of lordship in medieval Ireland, the data will more particularly inform discussions relating to the environment and agrarian practice in Gaelic Ireland during the later medieval period, subjects that have been in need of a robust dataset for far too long. The information will also make important contributions to similar discussions for the early medieval and early modern periods.