2010:580 - Lisroyne, Roscommon

The site was located 350m to the north of the N5 road, on the western edge of Strokestown village in a field which slopes steeply down to the north. The northern portion of the field was rough pasture. The excavation took place at the site of a proposed GAA training pitch and lay to the west of an existing pitch. Lough Lea lies 250m to the west. Ringfort RO023–165 was located in the centre of the proposed pitch.
The ringfort was sub-oval in shape, encompassed an area of high ground and measured 31m north–south by 28m internally. The ditch, which was 2.8m wide and 1.1m deep, had steep sides tapering to a flat base. The basal fill was a light-grey silty sand with frequent angular stones. The upper fill was a loose orange/brown sandy clay with occasional animal bone.
The ringfort ditch had a recut, 1m wide and 0.5m deep. The recut had a loose grey clay fill which yielded fragments of human (infant) skull, post-medieval and early modern pottery, glass and a horse skull with semi-articulated animal bones.
The interior was eroded and probably scarped by agricultural activity and no structural features were evident. A copper-alloy strap-end was, however, recovered from the topsoil. There was a possible entrance to the enclosure in the south-west quadrant but this was rendered unclear by the ditch recut.
Within the ringfort, six pits and a post-hole were revealed. An oblong pit, 7.1m long, 2.1m wide and 0.8m deep, was recorded in the south-west part of the ringfort. The sides of the pit were vertical and it had a flat base, sloping downward to the west. The pit fill comprised a mid-grey/brown sandy silt with moderate sub-angular stones and contained animal bone but no diagnostic material. A subrectangular pit adjacent to the oblong pit measured 0.48m north–south by 0.24m and was 0.29m deep. This pit was filled with a mid-orange/brown silty sand with occasional small sub-angular stones. An oval pit was 0.56m long 0.31m wide and 0.26m deep. It had irregular sides and uneven base and was filled with a dark-brown/grey sandy silt.
Four pits and a post-hole were excavated in the south-eastern part of the ringfort. One of the pits was subcircular, two were oval and one was oblong. The pits were 0.3–1.2m long, 0.28–1m wide and up to 0.41m deep filled with a dark-orange/brown/grey sandy clay. Adjacent to the oblong pit was a post-hole, which measured 0.3m by 0.28m and was 0.32m deep with vertical sides and a pointed flat base. The post-hole was filled with a dark-grey gravelly sand.
The annexe ditch formed a C-shaped addition approximately 27m in diameter on the north-western side of the ringfort, leading downslope toward a wet area. The annexe ditch cut the ringfort ditch and was generally U-shaped in profile, 2.8m wide and 1.1m deep, with steep sides and a flat or occasionally concave base. Several ditch fills were present and these were waterlogged, particularly in the north. The basal fill was a heavy pale grey marl with occasional small stones. Above this was a mid-orange/brown clay, which yielded some wood and occasional animal bone. A thin lens of mid-white/grey clay occurred in the west of the ditch. Above it was a mid-red/brown silty clay fill with occasional angular stones. The upper fill was a light-yellow/brown sandy clay.
The burnt mound, located within the annexe, consisted of a deposit of dark black/grey silty clay, moderate charcoal flecks and frequent heat-shattered stone. The feature was irregular in shape, measured 9.08m north–south by 9m and was 0.3m deep. Two pieces of burnt flint were recovered from this deposit. The burnt mound covered a trough which contained four post-holes and 52 stake-holes, a well and three pits. The trough was subrectangular with rounded corners and some remodelling had occurred in the east, adding a D-shaped annexe, to facilitate a series of post- and stake-holes. There was no discernible difference in the fill and this remodelling has been included in the original cut. The fill was a loose black/grey sandy silt with moderate concentrations of heat-shattered stone and charcoal. The trough was not wood-lined as the natural clay at the base was sufficient to retain water. The base was flat with a slight gradient upwards to the north, there was a sharp break of slope and the sides were steep. There were multiple post- and stake-holes in the trough cut, with a probable entrance in the west. Some of the stake-holes appear to represent a screen, or series of screens, enclosing the trough.
Four post-holes were located in the corners of the trough cut. These were probably supports for some sort of structure, such as a platform or a roof or corner posts for a screen or windbreak. In addition, 52 stake-holes were recorded within the trough. These features were 0.03–0.13m in diameter and 0.06–0.56m deep with oval, tapered profiles. The stake-hole fills were typically loose grey/black silty sand with occasional charcoal. Fifteen stake-holes within the south-east quadrant were driven 0.4m into the trough at a 45º angle pointing north-west in towards the centre of the trough.
The well was located at the western edge of the burnt mound. This feature was subcircular in plan, measured 2.4m east–west by 2m and was 1.6m deep. The well had a gradual break of slope at the top and a funnel-shaped profile, tapering to narrow vertical sides and a concave base. The fill was a light-grey clayey silt with occasional small stones.
The fragments of two small, probably spindle-turned, wooden bowls with moderately graded sides and delicate everted rims were found in the waterlogged base of the well. Just below the rim is a simple decorative motif or two raised bands. A second strip of three raised bands is present close to the base, which has a turned foot ring, around which is a single line of incised decoration. An unusual part of the vessel is, internal to the foot ring, a small carved recess apparently for a separate disc base.
Two wooden posts stood upright in the well, beneath the bowls. The posts were 0.7m long by 0.08m in diameter and 0.65m long by 0.08m in diameter and both had sharpened, pointed ends, driven into the well’s base.
In addition to the trough and the well, four pits were excavated beneath the burnt mound. Approximately 1m north of the well was an oblong-shaped pit, measuring 1.03m by 0.98m and 0.16m deep. The pit had gently sloping sides and a concave base and was filled with the burnt-mound material. Further north was a sub-oval pit, 3.04m long, 1.19m wide and 0.34m deep. The pit had steep sides and a concave base and was filled by a dark black/grey sandy clay with occasional charcoal flecks and frequent stones. Approximately 0.7m east was a teardrop-shaped pit with gently sloping sides and an irregular base. The pit measured 1.6m by 0.61m, was 0.2m deep and was filled with a dark black/grey clayey sand with moderate charcoal inclusions.
Adjacent to the east was a sub-oval pit, measuring 1.2m by 0.75m and 0.22m deep. The pit had gradually sloping sides and a flat base and was filled with a dark mottled orange/black/grey clay with frequent stone and occasional charcoal inclusions. To the north-east, within the annexe, a small sub-oval post-hole with vertical, convex sides and a pointed base was revealed. This post-hole measured 0.28m by 0.19m, was 0.34m deep and was filled with a mid-grey clayey silt. An isolated circular pit, 0.75m in diameter and 0.19m in depth, was in the north-west part of the annex. The pit had vertical sides and a flat base and was filled with a mid-yellow/brown silty sand and a dark black/brown sandy clay.
Two further burnt spreads were located within the enclosure annexe on its north-east side. One of the burnt spreads was sub-oval and comprised a dark-grey/black sandy silt with frequent fire-cracked stone and occasional charcoal inclusions. The spread measured 3.01m by 2.51m and was up to 0.23m thick. This was adjacent to an oblong burnt spread which measured 3.3m north–south by 1.9m, was 0.17m thick and consisted of a light-grey sandy silt with moderate heat-shattered stones.
Two post-medieval parallel field boundary ditches were recorded. One of the ditches traversed the length of the site, cutting the ringfort and annexe ditch. The ditch was 64m long within the site by 1.65m wide and 0.65m deep. The feature had gently sloping sides and a flat base and was filled with a light-brown silty clay. Remains of modern leather boots and iron fragments were recovered from it. The second boundary was 2.5m west from the ringfort and was 31.9m long, 1.06m wide and 0.3m deep, with gently sloping sides and a concave base. The fill of the boundary ditch was a dark-grey/brown silty clay with occasional stones and yielded a clay tobacco pipe fragment.
One of two field drains cut the east of the ring-ditch, measuring 17m in length by 0.42m in width and 0.32m deep. The drain had steep sides and a concave base and was filled with a mottled grey/brown clayey silt with moderate sub-angular stones. The second field drain cut the ringfort at its south-west end and was 5.1m long, 0.49m wide and 0.23m deep. The third drain, located in the south corner of the site, was 10.9m long, 0.3m wide and 0.24m deep.