2016:836 - Garrymore 2, Cavan

An archaeological excavation was carried out at Garrymore 2 from September - October 2016, in advance of the proposed N55 Road Realignment Scheme, Co. Cavan. The site was previously identified during archaeological testing Stage (i) of the proposed route in August 2016 as a large burnt stone mound in a greenfield site. The mound measured a maximum of 11.7m north-south, by 9.2m with a depth ranging from 0.24–0.45m. It consisted of burnt stone within a sandy clay with charcoal inclusions. It sealed a trough C85, a large pit C09 (containing a wooden platform/trough C115), four pits C36, C38, C42 and C66 and multiple post- and stake-holes. A radiocarbon date of 751-404 cal BC (2430 +/- 35 BP) was returned for the burnt mound. The large pit C09 comprised a shallow dish-shaped cut, measuring 4.7m by 4.1m with the south-western end cut by a modern drain. The basal fill returned a date of 1007-845 cal BC (2785 +/- 30 BP) from a charcoal sample identified as alder/hazel. This fill C05 contained peat, brushwood, charcoal, occasional heat-affected stones and a wooden platform was constructed on this material. A timber sample from the base planks of the platform was identified as ash and returned a radiocarbon date of 754-407 cal BC (2440 +/- 35 BP), indicating the platform/trough base was a later insertion into the original pit. A wooden artefact (16E0501:101:01) was found at this level, a hand pickaxe made from hazel with chisel points at either end with a spur off the main branch. This measured 0.54m by 0.055m by 0.023m.

Four vertical oak posts defined the corners of the platform/trough base that was sub-rectangular in plan with internal dimensions of 2.08–2.6m in length by 1.8m in width. Ten planks formed the platform base and consisted of ash and alder wood. Additional planks appeared to form sides outside the vertical posts while respecting the base planks. This would suggest that this platform was the base of a box-like structure such as a trough. Multiple post- and stake-holes were cut into a deposit C13 that sealed the platform.
A trough C85 was identified 2m to the east of the pit C09. It had a clay bank and had internal dimensions of 2.1m by 1.3m. It had vertical posts in each corner and three planks covering the base running lengthwise. A sample of partially-burnt oak wood from the lining of this trough returned a radiocarbon date of 1107-901 cal BC (2825 +/- 35 BP).

The site in general showed signs of phased use with pits and post-holes been cut by other pits and post-holes within the same area. The smaller timber-lined trough C85 probably represents the earliest phase of activity at this site, followed by the pit C09, that was subsequently re-used a few hundred years later when the timber platform/base was inserted in it.

Burnt animal bone was recovered from four contexts and when analysed could not be identified to species. As the bone was calcined the flesh may have been removed from the bone before it was placed in a fire, perhaps a waste management strategy. Finds from the site included the hazel pickaxe and a lignite bracelet with a terminal (16E0501:35:01). The latter was deposited in the fill of a post-hole and charcoal recovered from this was identified as alder and dated to 1108-904 cal BC (2830 +/- 35 BP). This find may have been an intentional deposition.

Charcoal analysis of two hundred and forty charcoal fragments from this site identified four taxa, oak, ash, alder and hazel. The results indicate a selection of wood from a semi-open, mixed woodland where large canopy-forming trees such as oak and ash were found alongside scrub species such as hazel. Alder trees are adapted to a wetter growing environment and as such may have been collected from a wetland area or riverside close to the site.

Garrymore 2 produced an extremely impoverished assemblage of plant macro-remains, that included a tiny quantity of hedgerow species (bramble and raspberry) and species of damp/rough ground (sedges and goosefoots). None of the seeds were charred and the deposits were not waterlogged, therefore the seeds may be intrusive and not necessarily contemporary with the features.

The site can be classified as a Late Bronze Age fulacht fiadh that was most likely used on a few different occasions over a 500-year period. Unlike the other three fulachta fiadh discovered along this scheme, preservation at this site was good with the presence of a timber-lined trough and a second larger trough or timber platform. This preservation was due mainly to the unusual location of the site on higher ground but with the presence of a spring that provided a constant water flow. A second fulacht fiadh was excavated c. 175m to the south-west of this site in the same townland at Garrymore 3. This site also dates to the Late Bronze Age while two additional fulachtaí fiadh further south at Ballytrust 1 and 2 were Early Bronze Age in date.

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