2022:823 - Isert Kelly Castle, Galway

The aim of this excavation is to explore the archaeological evidence for structural remains and occupation deposits in the bawn beside the tower-house of Isert Kelly. Isert Kelly was selected for study because it is a well-preserved tower-house with substantial evidence for other structures around it. The tower-house, which is rectangular in plan and measures c.13m north-south by 10.8m, sits at the south-western corner of a square bawn, now defined by a grassy bank which covers the lower courses of the destroyed bawn wall. The remains of a large, rectangular stone-built structure can be seen in the south-eastern corner of the bawn and evidence for other structures may be seen across the site. This was the seventh season of excavation at Isert Kelly and it is planned to fully publish the results of the excavation after several further excavation seasons are completed.

In 2022, one large trench, Trench 8, was excavated between two earlier trenches, Trench 1 (2014) and Trench 5 (2017). Trench 8 measured 20m (north-south) by 7m, and it had two side extensions: TR8-E (3m x 3m) and TR8-W (4m x 3m). The southern part of Trench 8 crosses the western end the late-medieval hall building (Structure 3), while the northern part of the trench explored the area to the north of the hall and included the discovery of a new building, Structure 5.

The 2022 excavation in Structure 3, the late-medieval hall first discovered in 2017, has connected earlier investigations in Trench 1 and Trench 5. It has shown that a stair once existed in the northern wall of the building, and has uncovered fragments of a fine, decorated fireplace which is likely to once have been a feature of the building, possibly on an upper floor level. The fireplace lintel features a ‘cat-o’mountain’ motif, a heraldic symbol of the Burkes which first appears as a crest atop their coat of arms in the seventeenth century, and so this fireplace, together with the inserted fireplace in the tower-house which is dated 1604, suggests that significant investment was made at several buildings at Isert Kelly in the early 1600s. Numerous fragments of window glass, and several fragments of lead window came, provide further evidence of the quality of the fixtures and fittings within these buildings. The discovery of a single well-carved step from a spiral stair also provides a hint that Structure 3 had comfortable accommodation on an upper level, though this may not be an original arrangement within the building and it, too, may have been confined to one section of the building.

In the northern part of Trench 8, a section of a hitherto-unknown building, Structure 5, was uncovered, with extensive cobbled areas being found within the structure and in an external courtyard to the east. The large fireplace found within Structure 5 suggests it served a domestic function, though it may have served as a kitchen for the nearby hall rather than as a residential structure.

Birchall, Oughterard, Co. Galway