County: Antrim Site name: BALLYAGHAGAN CASHEL, BALLYAGHAGAN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: ANT056-019 Licence number: AE/11/110
Author: Henry Welsh
Site type: Cashel and later vernacular house site
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 731103m, N 879355m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.645327, -5.968689
A small-scale research excavation was carried out at the site of a cashel in Ballyaghagan townland, Co. Antrim, between 17 and 28 October 2011. It was undertaken by staff from the Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, Queen’s University, Belfast (CAF), in collaboration with the Belfast Hills Partnership, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency: Built Heritage and Belfast City Council. This project was largely funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and involved a significant public outreach element. A small excavation team from CAF was augmented by volunteers from the Ulster Archaeological Society, students from Queen’s University, Belfast, and members of the general public. Many local primary and secondary schools, conservation volunteers and community groups visited the site and many participated in the work. The project attracted widespread media attention, including television, radio and local newspapers, and it is estimated that up to 600 people visited the site during the excavation.
A geophysical survey of the interior of the cashel was carried out immediately prior to the excavation and indicated the possible presence of an extensive souterrain, dwelling and other features, but small test pits situated over two of the geophysical anomalies failed to locate any archaeological features. The excavation itself involved two main trenches, one across the long axis of a vernacular house that had been constructed partially over the cashel bank and a second across the bank itself. Preliminary analysis of some of the pottery sherds recovered suggests that the vernacular house may be of 17th-century date. Investigations at a section of the cashel bank showed that it had been constructed as an earthen bank with a stone revetment applied to the external face.
Finds included prehistoric flint artefacts and flakes and a range of pottery sherds and clay pipe fragments. It is hoped that the excavation has added significantly to the archaeological archive of the site and promoted a greater awareness of the rich heritage of the Belfast Hills, encouraging people to value, engage with and look after the area and its heritage.
Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University, Belfast BT7 1NN
