County: Donegal Site name: Clonca
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DG012-002 Licence number: C000945; E005067
Author: Richard Crumlish
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 652425m, N 947153m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 55.268705, -7.175105
Monitoring of works in order to improve public access to Clonca Church, High Cross and Grave Slab in County Donegal (National Monument No. 25), was carried out under Ministerial Consent (C000945) between 1 and 9 October 2019. The works consisted of the upgrading of the entrance stile, path and fence.
Clonca church (DG012-002001) is a 17th-century building, incorporating earlier fragments, set within a sub-rectangular graveyard (DG012-002011). Set into the outside wall of the church at the north-west corner is a small stone bearing a mallet and chisel device above an inscription (DG012-002003). At the east end of the church two graveslabs are fixed to the interior of the north wall. The first (DG012-002005) is largely undecorated, while the second (DG012-002012) is decorated with a cross, foliage, a sword, a playing stick and ball and an inscription. In the field to the west of the graveyard is the shaft and part of one arm of a restored, decorated, stone cross carved from a single slab (DG012-002006). Further west in the same field is the ringed head of a second cross (DG012-002007). Also associated with the site is a holy well (DG012-002008), a stone wheeled cross-slab (DG012-002009) and a standing stone (DG012-002010).
The existing concrete path measures 106.6m north-west/south-east from the entrance along the public road before turning east-west for a further 15.7m to the enclosing wall of the graveyard (DG012-002011). The path measures 0.92-1.3m wide.
The groundworks, all of which were carried out manually, consisted of:
1. The existing concrete path was extended by 0.3m on either side. The depth of excavation was 0.15-0.2m.
2. The existing post and wire fence was replaced, with all of the new timber posts requiring concrete bases. Fifty pits were excavated for the bases along the north-east side of the existing concrete path, at 1.7-2.4m intervals. The pits measured 0.3-0.6m long, 0.25-0.5m wide and 0.4-0.6m deep.
3. The construction of a new entrance entailed the removal of the concrete foundation of an existing pillar on the north-east side of the entrance and a 2.1m long section of the existing concrete path at its north-west end. An area of topsoil located on the south-west side of the north-west end of the path and measuring 1.5m north-west/south-east and 1.2m north-east/south-west was also excavated. The pillar foundation measured 0.9m long, 0.8m wide and 0.3m deep. The section of concrete path measured 0.1-0.13m thick. The area of topsoil was reduced by 0.2m.
The stratigraphy revealed during the monitoring was topsoil above natural subsoil, bedrock and materials associated with the modern maintenance of the site by the OPW, e.g. pea-gravel.
The monitoring revealed evidence of 20th-century activity at the site. None of the modern artefacts recovered were retained. Nothing of archaeological significance was in evidence.
4 Lecka Grove, Castlebar Road, Ballinrobe, County Mayo
