This article is from page 13 of the 2014-06-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
DIGGING has started on the remains of a Medieval structure in North Clare, which could reveal secrets of life in the county in the 10th and 14th centuries.
Work began last week on a major excavation at Caherconnell Stone Fort in Carron with a large area in the centre of a 1,000-year-old cashel. It is hoped that the excavation, which is being led by Michelle Comber from NUI, Galway, will uncover remains of a freestanding structure which is though to have stood in the centre of the cashel.
This structure is likely to have been the home of the highest status family in North Clare at the time and it is hoped that the excavation could provide new clues about the live in the area 1,000 years ago.
“We are excavating the centre of the cashel. When you excavate in the ringfort of a cashel you would normally expect to meet some sort of free-standing structure of house and that is what we are hoping for,” said Ms Comber. “This is where the person who owned the cashel, the most prominent family in the area, would have lived. We have opened a a 10 metre by 12 metre section and we are now getting down towards the stony area. We are getting slices coming through already, which are possible wall lines, but we will have to go deeper before we know for sure.
“What we are looking for could be from anything from the 10th to the 14th century. There were people living the cashel in the 15th and 16th century but we know where these people lived. So we are hoping for something much earlier than this.”
Excavation will continue in Caherconnell Stone Fort for the next six weeks and all the materials will be processed and dated over the winter months.