Structure — peatland in Com An Áir

This site extends over several acres on the N side of the high mountain saddle between Slievanea and Croaghskearda, in an area of rapidly-eroding peat banks, up to 2m deep, with the stony surface of the mountain-top visible in-between. It is here that the well-known 'Coumanare arrows' are found embedded in the peat or lying loose on the ground where the peat has eroded away. The 'arrows' are short pieces of wood, .15 to .17m long and up to .02m thick, sharpened at one or both ends. The removal of several hundreds of these objects from the site is recorded in the archaeological literature (Hitchcock 1850, 140-1; Tempest 1938, 127-8) and many more have probably been removed without record. During a survey of the site by a group of students from the Department of Archaeology, UCC (Coumanare Expedition: Preliminary Report, 1970), some of the objects were recorded in situ where erosion had conveniently produced horizontal sections of the peat banks. They occurred mainly in groups, with a few occurring singly, and they did not appear to be disposed in any particular way; some stood vertically, others at various angles, and some lay horizontally. Only one was found protruding from a vertical section; the peat bank at this point was 1.02m deep and the 'arrow' occured .61m from the base. Tempest also found one in a vertical section, about .35m from the base of the peat bank. The UCC group also found many small slivers of wood which may have been produced in the course of sharpening the ends of the 'arrows'. The only other objects recovered from the site are a flint flake found lying loose on the surface of a peat bank during this present survey, and a large oak peg, pointed at one end and pierced by a hole at the other. The latter measured .38m in length and .025m in thickness (Tempest). The purpose of these pointed wooden objects remains a mystery. They are locally believed to be the arrows used in the battle between the champions of Ulster and Munster from which the townland is said to derive its name, Com an Áir (the Hollow of the Slaughter). This, however, is an unlikely explanation of their use. A more plausible suggestion is that they were set in the ground as a trap for deer. Pollen analysis of samples from the peat bog here indicate that one of the pointed sticks 'was embedded in peat which probably formed when the Middle Bronze Age of Ireland was giving way to the Late Bronze Age' (Mitchell 1951, 177-8). The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 1560. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 5 August 2013