County: Roscommon Site name: Shankill 1
Sites and Monuments Record No.: RO016-123001- Licence number: E5077
Author: Ros Ó Maoldúin, Archaeological Management Solutions
Site type: Multi-period site near ecclesiastical enclosure
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 585555m, N 787605m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.837734, -8.219467
Interim report, to be updated during Stage (iv) reporting.
Shankill 1 was excavated in advance of construction of the N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge Road Project in County Roscommon by Archaeological Management Solutions
(AMS) for Roscommon County Council (RCC) and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).
The site was situated c.1km west of Elphin town adjacent the modern road junction between the R369 and N61, just opposite three recorded monuments: the site of a medieval church (RO016-123001-), graveyard (RO016-123002-) and bullaun stone (RO016-123003-). The medieval church is believed to sit on the site of an earlier medieval ecclesiastical site founded by St Patrick named Seincheall Dumhaighe (Ó Riain 2011, 537).
The remains within the bounds of Shankill 1 were first discovered through geophysical survey by Earthsound under licence no. 15R0123 (Bonsall & Gimson 2015), and test excavations by Archer Heritage Planning under licence 15E0545 (O’Connell 2016). The results of these were summarised in Chapter 14 of the EIAR (Roughan & O’DonovanAECOM 2017), with the addition of some radiocarbon dates retrieved after the testing report was finalised.
The site contained:
- traces of Neolithic activity, including a Group VI Langdale tuff axe, lithics and some features that may date to that period;
- a Late Bronze Age cremation deposit in a pit;
- possible traces of a small ring-ditch;
- possible prehistoric or early medieval ardmarks preserved under an area of gley soil;
- several phases of early medieval activity including:
o two burials;
o up to five phases of overlapping enclosures;
o several buildings;
o cereal-drying kilns;
o possible raised granaries;
o metalworking evidence including a probable forge;
- post-medieval furrows and ditches.
Post-excavation analysis has commenced, and it is hoped that specialist reports, including radiocarbon dating, will further the interpretation of the site.
References
Bonsall, J. & Gimson, H. 2015. Geophysical Survey Report, N5 Ballaghaderreen-Scramoge Road Development. Unpublished report prepared by Earthsound Archaeological Geophysics on behalf of Roscommon County Council.
O’Connell, A. 2016. N5 Ballaghaderreen-Scramoge Road Development, Archaeological Consultancy Services Contract, Stage (i) Services Area AH06; Shankill, Co. Roscommon, Licence No. 15E0545. Unpublished report by Archer Heritage Planning for Roscommon County Council.
Ó Riain, P. 2011. A Dictionary of Irish Saints. Dublin: Four Courts Press.
Roughan & O’Donovan-AECOM. 2017. N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge Road Project Environmental Impact Assessment Report. Roscommon: TII and Roscommon National Road Design Office. Available at: http://www.roscommoncoco.ie/en/Services/Roads/Publications-andInformation/N5-Ballaghaderreen-to-Scramoge-Road-Project/Environmental-ImpactAssessment-Report/Volume-2B-EIAR-Chapter-11-19/00-EIAR.pdf [Accessed 29 January 2021].
AMS, Fahy's Rd, Drimna, Kilrush, Co. Clare, V15 C780
