The people of medieval Killeagh

The archaeological discoveries of the N25 Killeagh Pavement Strengthening Scheme, in east County Cork, Ireland.


The finds

Exotic finds

A surprising and somewhat exotic find from the excavation was a single sherd of a Late Roman amphora, found re-desposited within a much younger ditch cut. Analysis by Ian Doyle suggests the pottery would have formed part of a roughly globular amphora—with a conical neck and two handles—and is likely to have been produced in the eastern Mediterranean in around the late 5th to mid-6th century and used to import olive oil or wine into Ireland, most likely indirectly, via trade with ports either in Spain (e.g. Vigo) and France (e.g. Bordeaux). Killeagh is one of just 13 locations in Ireland where such pottery has been found, other locations include Garranes in County Cork, the Rock of Cashel and Derrynaflan, both in County Tipperary, Colp West, County Meath, and Clogher, County Tyrone. Further afield, one notable location where such pottery has been found is at Tintagel, in Cornwall. One of the most distinctive decorative features of these amphorae is a zone of closely set horizontal grooving or combing, as evident on the Killeagh example (see below).

Left: Sherd of late 5th/mid-6th century Roman pottery (a type known as Late Roman amphora 2) from the Killeagh excavation (Photo by Rubicon Heritage). Right: Complete example of Late Roman amphora 2, not to scale (Photo [PEC255] by Donald Frey, Museum of Underwater Archaeology [see  link ]). The typical capacity of these amphorae was approx. 40 to 45 litres.

Late medieval and other pottery

Within the area excavated, archaeologists recovered just 13 sherds of medieval/post-medieval pottery and an undecorated clay pipe stem. The low quantity of pottery from these periods is perhaps not surprising as the excavation centred on a burial ground setting rather than a domestic habitation area, where large quantities of pottery might not necessarily be expected to be found. The location was also heavily scoured sometime before 1700 in preparation for a new road leading south from Killeagh village.

The pottery from the excavation was assessed by Clare McCutcheon. Despite only four of the pottery pieces being late medieval in date, the pottery types provide evidence of Killeagh, in the late 12th and 13th centuries, being at a confluence of regional trading routes between Cork City; Dungarvan, County Waterford, and more distant routes like Bristol in England, whose pottery likely came to Killeagh via Youghal harbour.

All other pottery was post-medieval in date.

Late medieval pottery jug fragments from Killeagh excavation: Bristol Ham Green B ware, rim (left); Dungarvan-type ware, bases (centre); and Cork-type ware, handle (right).

Metal finds

There was a total of 43 metal finds, of which 38 were iron nails, mostly associated with burials (coffin nails), along with a possible coffin grip plate fragment and coffin bracket fragment. Other finds included an 18th century iron fork with bone handle. The only copper alloy object was a small rectangular fragment, possibly part of a buckle plate.

Left: Iron coffin nails from a late 14th/15th century burial, suggesting a surprisingly early use of wooden coffins for that time; Middle: Possible buckle plate fragment made of copper alloy; Right: 17th/18th century fork with bone handle

Evidence for ironworking

Approximately 22 kg of metalworking waste was recovered and assessed by Dr. Paul Rondelez. Most of this waste, including a tuyère fragment, was found discarded into a large pit and consisted of the waste of iron ore smelting and bloom forging. This material was broadly dated to the 9th to 10th centuries. The smelting was carried out in a slag-pit furnace which had rare grass-like packing of its pit. In Ireland, on only two other sites has grass-like packing material in slag-pit furnaces been identified, at Camlin 3, Co. Tipperary and Clonfad, Co. Westmeath, both of which date to the early medieval period.

More evidence for metalworking was found at the southern end of the excavated area consisting of undefined ironworking and casting of non-ferrous metal, possibly copper-alloy. This waste was several centuries earlier in date (5th to 7th centuries).

Left: Fragment of a 9th to 10th century clay tuyère, used to house a bellow's nozzle feeding air into a slag-pit furnace; Right: A rim fragment of a large-diameter, 5th to 7th century crucible, likely used to melt copper alloy - from a deposit overlying the infilled early medieval ecclesiastical enclosure ditch at the southern end of the excavated area.

Glass

A fragment from the foot of a drinking glass was identified from archaeological monitoring. The glass, assessed by Antoine Giacometti, is deemed to belong to a small stemmed ‘goblet’ glass of late 17th or early 18th century date, probably made from lead crystal glass. It probably belonged to a non-wine glass, such as a glass for strong ale, but it could also be part of a rarer class of early Irish wine glass called a proto-baluster.

Animal bone

Very few animal bone were excavated (mostly cattle, some pig and a single horse bone) and all were in poor condition. This did not allow for conclusive comparison against other assemblages.


Your name is a golden bell hung in my heart. I would break my body to pieces to call you once by your name.

Quote by: Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn

What's in a name?

Despite the detailed analysis of the 212 burials identified at Killeagh, none of the individuals could be attributed to a named person. However, one name did emerge from the excavation.

Archaeologists recovered two broken pieces of slate, that were once joined as a single piece, with letters clearly carved into it. The carving was assessed by Professor Elisabeth Okasha, as follows:

The letters are likely to form a single word cuer[-]tche (though it may, instead, end in -ne), with just a single letter lost along the breakage line. There are no further signs of letters at the beginning or end, suggesting that the text is complete as it stands, on what is possibly a personal name-stone associated with an early burial. The slate stones appeared to be re-deposited in a pit that was dated to sometime between AD 772–974.

Very often, single-word texts are personal names, and this may be the case here. Several recorded names begin with Cu- ‘hound’, although it is not easy to parallel exactly the name on the slate. There is, however, a name Cuirche mac Cremthaind recorded among the Eoghanacht family of Imokilly. Another possibility is that it could be a population name ending in -ne, like Cuirccne. (Many thanks to Professor Maire Herbert of University College Cork for this suggestion and for a useful discussion of this name form.)

The text is inscribed in insular half-uncial script. This is the usual script of early medieval non-runic inscribed stones in Ireland, used between the 6 th /7 th  and early 12 th  century. The use of this script suggests such a date for the Killeagh slate. If, as likely, the text pre-dates the construction of the pit it was found in, this narrows the date of the text to the 6 th /7 th  to the 8 th  century.

There are a large number of small, inscribed stone slabs in Munster dating from the early medieval period. The most similar to the Killeagh slate(s) are some of the 60 small slabs of sandstone documented from Toureen Peacaun, Co. Tipperary, 38 of which are still extant. Many of these are now fragmentary, and many contain more than one name. However, some of the more complete ones appear to contain one personal name only alongside an inscribed cross. 

Carved name on two refitted slates excavated at Killeagh. (Slide right to see carved letters, slide left to see their outlines.) These letters are likely to form a single word cuer[.]tche, on what is possibly a personal name-stone associated with an early burial. The stones were likely re-deposited in a pit that was dated to sometime between AD 772–974.


Next stage

Some additional analysis and research is on-going into the medieval population identified at Killeagh. This story map will be updated in due course when this additional work has been completed.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland, in collaboration with Rubicon Heritage, aim to publish a monograph book detailing all the findings from the excavation at Killeagh.

For other Story Maps published with respect to infrastructural projects undertaken under the auspices of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, follow this  link .

For other information on the work of the Archaeology and Heritage section of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, follow this  link .


Acknowledgements

The information presented above stems from the work of many individuals as credited below:

Story Map compilation

Ken Hanley (Transport Infrastructure Ireland)

Project Archaeologist

Ken Hanley (TII)

Archaeological testing

Dan Noonan (Dan Noonan Archaeological Consultants)

Archaeological Monitoring

Patricia Long (Rubicon Heritage Services Ltd)

Archaeological Excavation

Rubicon Heritage Services Ltd: Licenced director Patricia Long, assisted by James Hession and John O’Connor; Osteoarchaeologist Dr. Dawn Gooney; and the large excavation team, too many to name individually here.

Isotope analysis (report and interpretation)

Bryony Rogers and Professor Janet Montgomery (AIPRL, Archaeology Department, Durham University, UK)

Ancient DNA analysis

Dr. Lara Cassidy (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin)

Osteoarchaeologist

Dr. Dawn Gooney, Rubicon Heritage Services

Other specialists

Historian Dr. Paul MacCotter (University College Cork); Ian Doyle (Roman pottery analysis); Elisabeth Okasha, Professor Emerita, University College Cork (Inscribed slate analysis), with contribution by Professor Maire Herbert, University College Cork; Clare McCutcheon (medieval and post-medieval pottery analysis); Dr. Paul Rondelez (analysis of metal-working); Jacqueline Mac Dermott (metal finds analysis); Dr. Dawn Gooney (animal bone analysis); Antoine Giacometti (glass analysis)

Cork County Council

Sean Callery (Senior Engineer), Eoin McCarthy (Employer's Representative), Eoin Bennett (Project Manager), Michael Kennefic and Breda Leonard, Clerks of Works, Mark O'Leary (Assistant Resident Engineer)

Construction Contractor

MEIC Ltd

Transport Infrastructure Ireland

Paul Moran (Regional Manager), Obey Mhondera (former Senior Engineering Inspector), Jim McCarthy (current Senior Engineering Inspector), Ronan Swan (Head of Archaeology and Heritage) and James Eogan (Senior Archaeologist).

National Monuments Service

Mark Keegan (Senior Archaeologist), Teresa Bolger (Archaeologist).

Reviewers

Richard O'Brien (TII), Carmelita Troy and James Hession (Rubicon Heritage)

Special thanks to

The Killeagh community for their interest in the archaeological works undertaken during the village enhancement works

Carved name on two refitted slates excavated at Killeagh. (Slide right to see carved letters, slide left to see their outlines.) These letters are likely to form a single word cuer[.]tche, on what is possibly a personal name-stone associated with an early burial. The stones were likely re-deposited in a pit that was dated to sometime between AD 772–974.