ISSN 2009-2237
This entry is part 15 of 23 in the Issue 08This report constitutes the final excavation report for a destroyed and levelled cashel that straddles the boundary between Drumharsna South and Owenbristy townlands in Co. Galway. The site was excavated as part of the archaeological excavation programme in advance of construction for the N18 Oranmore to Gort road scheme. The site was a recorded monument (GA113:121) located within the lands acquired for the new road. The excavation revealed the footprint of the cashel wall, which had an entrance to the south.
The site was a recorded early medieval enclosure or cashel (GA113:121) which was depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of the area. The site was levelled and destroyed by land clearance in recent decades and was not visible above ground. The remains of a small 19th-century farmstead are located just to the east of the site. The footprint of the cashel was identified during the excavation as a doughnut-shaped rise in the natural subsoil. Some remains of the original cashel wall survived below one of the field boundaries that intersect the site. A possible entrance was also identified. The stone-built field walls represent townland boundaries dividing Drumharsna North, Drumharsna South and Owenbristy. Analysis of the animal bone, plant remains and charcoal from the site was undertaken and the finds were also assessed. The find and sample assemblages from the site were mixed with material relating to the nearby post-medieval settlement.
Authors: Linda Hegarty & Finn Delaney
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