House - early medieval

The National Monuments Service's description

Located in the W half of a cashel (DG016-016----).
When first recorded this house appeared as ‘an oval (6m NW-SE and 5m NE-SW) grass-covered stone foundation. The wall is up to 2m wide and 0.5m high.’ (Lacy et al. 1983, 151, no. 904). In the late 1980’s an excavation was carried out at the cashel over five seasons (1987-90; 1992) by Professor Tom Fanning, NUIG (Comber et al. 2006, 67-124).
The excavation revealed that the stone-built house was subrectangular in plan (int. dims. 7m NW–SE; 5.5m NE–SW), with right-angles internal corners and rounded external corners. Although the walls (Wth 1-1.3m) had largely collapsed, it was possible to determine that they were of drystone construction, with inner and outer stone faces retaining an earth and rubble core. The NW wall in particular was poorly preserved, with indications that it may have been widened or rebuilt. The doorway was in the middle of the SW wall, and was evident as a stone-faced gap paved with flat stones. The paving continued to the exterior towards the cashel entrance.
In the interior of the house, two roughly parallel rows of four postholes each were dug into the floor. The post holes extended the length of the building, and most likely held timber posts that supported the roof rafters. The house interior was subdivided into two spaces of unequal size. The smaller space (2m NW–SE; 5m NE–SW) at the SE end of the house was defined by a carefully constructed stone-paved floor, with a low kerb of stones separating it from the rest of the house. A gap in the kerb may have been an entrance feature, suggesting that the paved area may have been screened off to form a separate room. The larger space to NW was covered by an occupation layer of dark soil overlying a mix of bedrock and intermittent paving. Burnt bone fragments and iron slag were recovered from this layer. A stone-lined hearth was located in this space, roughly in the centre of the house. Four large paving stones, bordering the SE side of the hearth, may have served as a work surface. A stone-lined drain underlay the floor to S of the hearth, and extended to SE under the house wall to the exterior. Two shell middens (DG016-016002-; DG016-016003-) lay immediately adjacent to the house.
Radiocarbon dates indicate a 9th-century date for the construction of the house. However, shells from one of the middens produced dates that suggest a phase of occupation in the 11th century (Comber et al 2006, 106).

Compiler: Jane O'Shaughnessy

Date of revised upload: 12 December 2019

References

Comber, M., Murray, E., Hamilton-Dyer, S., Molloy, K. and Hickey, L. 2006 Tom Fanning’s excavations at Rinnaraw Cashel, Portnablagh, Co. Donegal. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 106C, 67-124.