2011:047 - Knockymullgurry, Carlow

In July 2011 the writer carried out an emergency excavation for the National Museum of Ireland of a wooden deer-trap at the summit of Blackstairs Mountain, at an elevation of approximately 2,400ft/735m. The find-spot is very close to the boundary between counties Carlow and Wexford but GPS readings locate it just inside the Carlow side of the boundary, in the townland of Knockymullgurry. The deer-trap had been discovered, protruding from peat, by Mr Michael Monahan, a local hill-walker, and reported to Mr Dermot Mulligan, Curator, Carlow County Museum, who in turn reported it to the National Museum of Ireland. Mr Seamus Murphy, an MA Archaeology student in UCD, kindly agreed to assist in the excavation.

The trap lay at the edge of an eroded peat bank approximately 1m in height, and had been damaged as a result of being partly exposed. Both the main body of the trap and the spring were broken into two parts, with in each case one part still in situ and the other part disturbed. The valve of the trap had also been disturbed but was otherwise undamaged. Excavation of a section of the peat bank, to expose the parts of the trap remaining in situ, revealed that the trap was lying on its side rather than in a set position. It lay in a deposit of dark, loose silty peat containing sand, which contrasted with the yellow-brown, highly structured peat around it and apparently represented the fill of a cut or pit in the undisturbed peat. Without a more extensive excavation (which was not feasible under the circumstances), however, it was not possible to confirm this. The trap rested almost directly on the pre-bog surface. It was also notable that around the intact end of the trap was a concentration of dense, fibrous vegetable matter, which clearly seemed to have been placed there deliberately, although its function is unknown.

The trap was brought to the National Museum of Ireland (reg. no. 2011:254) and is currently undergoing conservation treatment. A radiocarbon determination obtained from a sample of the trap (UBA-19121) returned as 2102 ± 33 BP, which calibrates (at 95% probability) to 336–42 BC. Bearing in mind the Iron Age date, the location on a county boundary and the fact that the trap seems to have been lying in a non-functional position, the possibility that it represents a ritual deposition must be borne in mind.

Assistant Keeper, Irish Antiquities Division, National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2