2022:122 - Tormore Cave, Sligo

Prior to excavations, Tormore Cave was not a known or recorded archaeological site but was known to have been used as an IRA hideout during the War of Independence and the Civil War. In September 1922, up to 34 men hid in this natural limestone cave high in the Darty Mountains for six weeks after the National Army swept through North Sligo and took over their headquarters at Rahelly House. A six-day research excavation took place in March and April 2022 to investigate the nature of republican usage of the cave in the early 1920s.
The cave measures 18m in length, ranges from 1.2m to 2m in width and varies from 1.4m to 2.5m in height. The passage can be divided into three areas: Area 1 (0-8m), Area 2 (8-13.5m) and Area 3 (13.5-18m). The 1920s activities were focussed in Area 1, which is the most spacious and the only section where the floor is level. Excavations here primarily comprised removing superficial deposits to reveal, but not remove, features that had been constructed during the revolutionary period.
A U-shaped setting of upright stones had been built against the cave walls along the length of the cave passage in Area 1, and across the end of Area 1 where the passage drops sharply into Area 2. A mortar floor was laid down within this stone setting, and part of the floor was covered by a series of flagstones. Stone steps had been constructed from the cave entrance to the floor of Area 1; four were exposed though others likely lie beneath an unexcavated area.
Artefacts recovered during the excavations include fragments of two shallow, glazed red earthenware dishes, a black glazed ware jar and a glass bottle – all of nineteenth-century date. Parts of metal vessels were also recovered: the handle of a billy can or similar, fragments of a three-legged skillet pot, and the base of a pail or similar. Animal bones that probably relate to the 1920's occupation include rabbit, fish (cod) and chicken. Two sods of turf and turf charcoal were retrieved from a natural recess in the cave wall. These may represent rudimentary efforts to light a fire, though there was no evidence of such in the cave. Alternatively, the sods may have been used to provide low-level light. A clay pipe bowl fragment was also found in this area.
Bones from at least five sheep and goats were recovered lying on the surface of the cave floor in Area 2. These included an adult sheep, a lamb, an adult goat, a goat kid and a fifth sheep/goat. The sheep and goat bones represented entire carcasses with all body parts present. A significant number of the bones were butchered, but there was no indication that portions of carcasses, such as joints of meat, had been removed from the cave. These animals appear to have been brought to this part of the cave where they were butchered in situ. Two radiocarbon dates indicate post-medieval dates for these activities – between the late 17th and early 20th century, but probably pre-dating the 1920's occupation. An assemblage of 16 lithics (15 chert, 1 flint) was recovered from disturbed strata. The assemblage included a possible rough-out for a butt-trimmed flake. If correct, this indicates a Late Mesolithic element to the site. A fragment of a convex scraper suggests a Bronze Age or Neolithic date. The remaining lithics – two third-phase bipolar cores and twelve flakes, are not diagnostic and cannot be attributed to a particular prehistoric period. An early medieval phase was also detected. A large mammal rib (probably cattle) with five butchery marks returned a radiocarbon date in the seventh or eighth century. An unmodified horse metapodial returned a tenth- or early eleventh-century date. This was the only horse bone from the site.
This was the first dedicated research excavation of a Civil War site and contributes significantly to the vulnerable contemporary archaeology of that period, and particularly to our understanding of dugouts. An unexpected consequence was the recovery of prehistoric, early medieval and post-medieval material which demonstrates the multi-period nature of Tormore Cave and allows it to be classified as an archaeological site. Tormore Cave is located on private property.

Faculty of Science, Atlantic Technological University Sligo