County: Fermanagh Site name: Cleenish
Sites and Monuments Record No.: FER229:013 Licence number: AE/14/183
Author: Ros Ó Maoldúin
Site type: Ecclesiastical
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 625782m, N 839009m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.299200, -7.603910
According to Jonas, his biographer, when Columbanus ‘left his birthplace…he betook himself to a holy man named Sinell, who…was distinguished among his countrymen for his unusual piety and knowledge of the Holy Scriptures’. Chief saint of Lough Erne, Sinell founded a monastery at Claoin Inis (Cleenish), a small island on Upper Lough Erne, County Fermanagh. A graveyard containing medieval architectural fragments and cross slabs is traditionally believed to be the site of Sinell’s monastery. The results of geophysical survey and excavation (2013-14) lend considerable support to this hypothesis.
Around the graveyard geophysics revealed a remarkable array of features consistent with an early Irish ecclesiastical site. The dominant feature is a large, D-shaped enclosure with internal sub-divisions, encompassing an area of c. 160m by 125m. The network of associated fields and trackways, together with smaller enclosures and structures suggests multi-phase occupation.
A trench excavated across the boundary of the main enclosure confirmed it to be a fosse, with a V-shaped profile, measuring 2.8m wide and 1.1m deep. Most of the fill derived from the inner, upslope, side; however, no definitive evidence for a bank was identified. Animal bone, an iron needle and iron knife blade were retrieved from the basal fill.
A second trench inside the enclosure revealed a shallow pit and ditch, filled by charcoal-rich soil, fragments of burnt stone and animal bone.
The skeleton of an adult male was also uncovered. Buried in a supine position, feet to the east, osteoarchaeological analysis (Dr Linda Lynch) revealed that he died violently. Cut- and stab-marks on his ribs, right shoulder and neck suggest he was killed by multiple attackers and possibly even decapitated. A radiocarbon sample from this unfortunate man has returned a late 6th – early 7th-century date, raising the possibility that, if he did not know Columbanus personally, he may well have known others who did. His death is a reminder that life in the land of saints and scholars was not always peaceful, and that raids on monasteries took place long before the arrival of the Vikings.
Laghtagoona House, Gort Rd, Corofin, Co. Clare.
