County: Donegal Site name: Castlequarter (Inch ED)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DG046-041---- Licence number: 21E0309
Author: Tamlyn McHugh
Site type: Midden
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 632207m, N 922356m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 55.047667, -7.496029
The area under archaeological investigation was the location of a newly-uncovered midden at Inch Castle (DG046-004----) on Inch Island, Lough Swilly in County Donegal in the Inishowen Peninsula. This midden (DG046-041----) was exposed in section in 2021 during preparatory works for the erection of a fence around the castle. Investigation of the midden was commissioned by the National Monuments Service and undertaken on 18 May 2021. The investigation works included the hand- cleaning, examination and recording of the midden and overburden, including section drawing, 3D imagery, and the overall site was subject to a measured GPS survey by specialist surveyors.
The exposed section measured 33m in length, with a maximum depth of 2m and approximately 7m from the extant castle. The exposed section curves in an arc from north-west to south-east, following the northern edge of the machined trackway. The exposed section comprised two main areas – Area 1) the west-facing section and Area 2) the south-facing section.
Area 2 comprised a mixture of frequent sub-angular and platy medium-sized stones, in a matrix of disturbed sod cover and blackened clayey-silt with moderate shell (mainly oyster), sandy mortar, fragmented slate (possibly former castle roof tiles), small stones, as well as the occasional faunal bone fragment. The stone is most likely derived from collapsed building rubble accumulated in this area from the ruined castle.
The detailed recording was confined to Area 1 where the largest concentration of shell midden material was visible. The stratigraphy in this exposed section in Area 1 comprised sod layer (C1) over C3 which comprised approximately 1m of mixed material with frequent rubble stone, moderate fragmented slate, and sandy mortar, in a blackened silty clay matrix. This is comparable with the building rubble encountered in Area 2 and is part of the same context of stone material from the ruined castle.
No worked fragments or architectural pieces were noted in C3 – the material largely comprises small to medium sub-angular and platy flat stones characteristic of rubble building material. Shell fragments also occurred in C3, perhaps upcast from the machine clearance of the area. The west-facing section sloped gently upwards from north-west to south-east, in so doing the depth of C3 increased as the gradient increased from 0.2m (north-west) to 1m (south-east).
As part of the program of recording, removal by hand of 5 samples from the midden were obtained at various levels within the midden for Carbon 14 dating. Post-excavation specialist analysis is being undertaken at present and will be duly updated when these results are available.
Cooldrumman Upper, Carney, Co. Sligo
