House - Neolithic

The National Monuments Service's description

In rocky pasture on the S-facing slope of Knockadoon Peninsula, 90m N of and overlooking Lough Gur. The circular Neolithic house site (Site C House II) was discovered in 1940 during a campaign of archaeological excavations over 18 seasons led by Professor Seán P. Ó Ríordáin at Lough Gur (1954, 321-84). The site is located within an area of dense archaeological activity dating principally from the Neolithic and Bronze Age up to the present day around the lake (Cleary 2018). Further Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement is located adjacent to the site. Archaeological excavations by Ó Ríordáin at Site A (LI032-022010-) was located c. 50m to SW. Archaeological excavations by Ó Ríordáin at Site D (LI032-022016/017/018-) are located c. 20m to NE. Many other archaeological sites are located on the peninsula, including Circle K (LI032-022028-) located 90m to NNW.
The Neolithic house site (LI032-022014- Site C House II) is not depicted on historic OSi maps. The site is not visible on OSi orthoimages taken 2005-12 or on the Digital Globe orthoimages taken 2011-2013. Rose Cleary (2018, 83) described the site as follows: ‘House II: This was c. 7m NW of House I. Paired posts formed most of the wall circumference, and there was a slot-trench for a plank-built wall in the NE and E walls. Similar to House I, the upright wall posts probably had intermediary wattle walling and partly plank-built walling. The footprint of the house was oval in plan, with estimated diameters of c. 7.6m (NW-SE) by 6.5m (NE-SW) externally and 5.2m (NE-SW) by 6.3m (NW-SE) internally. Four large post-holes that were slightly off-centre may have held roof-support posts. Nineteen other post-holes within the floor area of House II did not form any clear pattern. A hearth on the NW side was off-centre and described as sunken and 0.15m deep. The entrance may have been on the S side but the evidence for this was not conclusive, as a 0.3m-deep pit was cut across the possible entrance area. This pit may have been contemporary with or pre- or post-dated the house and was one of a series of three sequential pits on the S side of the house. Three other pits were recorded within House II: an irregularly shaped pit, c. 1.8m long (E/W), on the E side, and two pits with maximum diameters of c. 1m on the W side. Their function and their relationship to House II is unknown. The faint outline of the excavation grid orientated E-W is visible on Google Earth orthoimage taken 28/06/2018. The exact location of House II is not clear and the location suggested here is the best estimate based on the text of the excavation report and attempting to correlate site photos and recent aerial orthoimages.

See Google Earth orthoimage

Compiled by: Edmond O’Donovan

Date of upload: 11 November 2020

References

Cleary, R. 2018 The archaeology of Lough Gur. Dublin. Wordwell.

Ó Ríordáin, S.P. 1954 Lough Gur excavations: Neolithic and Bronze Age houses on Knockadoon. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 56C, 297-460.