House — medieval in Unknown Townland

Excavations of a site at Christ Church Place, in 1972- 1973 uncovered structural features of the late 13th-early 14th centuries including remains of a mortared stone building, the major portion of which had been demolished in the early 14th century. Finds associated with this phase of activity included sherds of polychrome pottery of south west French type and an English reckoning counter of c. 1300 A. D. The well defined plan of a house constructed in the post and wattle technique and of late 11th or early 12th century date was also discovered. The house was 9.50m long and 4.45m wide and its long axis was orientated E-W. The doorway, 1 m wide, had a stout oak jamb on either side and occupied an off-central position in the southern side wall. The floor area in the immediate vicinity of the hearth, which was centrally placed, was composed of mud and trodden soil; the remainder of the floor was covered with a layer of brushwood. Objects discovered in the house included a well-preserved iron sword of late Viking type which has an inscription SINIM INI IS on one face of the blade, a small wooden weaving tablet, an Hiberno-Norse coin of late 11th century date as well as many sherds of a glazed and decorated tripod pitcher of Anglo-Saxon type. Close to the house an abundance of sawn antler tines, burrs and a large quantity of waste comb blanks were found. The assemblage included an example of an unfinished comb consisting of nine sawn comb blanks riveted in position between the back plates or fillets. Only two teeth had been cut in this specimen and, due to a sawing error, the whole had been discarded, thus providing an interesting demonstration of a stage in the working methods of the comb maker. A handled wooden object resembling a spade or baker's shovel was found also. It bears a runic inscription of seven lightly incised letters. Although parts of the final characters are worn away, sufficient remain to show that the runes read KIRLAKAR. (0 Riordain 197?).