Field system in Beginish (iveragh By.)

Beginish Island lies between Valencia Island and the mainland at the N end of Valencia Harbour. Its E end comprises a narrow splayed projection terminating in a curving sand-bar at its SE tip, which, at certain low tides, is connected with the nearby Church Island (KE079-032001-). The highest point at this end of the island is known as Canroe, and a settlement complex located here extends from its western side over its summit and down to the rocky shoreline at E. The complex comprises eight houses, fifteen cairns, eight animal shelters and two poorly constructed structures, all of which lie within an extensive network of fields and walls. An iron smelting site (KE079-117----) occurs at its W end. The complex was investigated by O’Kelly in the early 1950s and two houses, a cairn and an animal shelter were fully excavated. The following description of the site is based on the report of these excavations (O’Kelly 1956, 159-94). Prior to the excavation most of the structures noted above were visible as surface features. Erosion, hastened by the introduction of rabbits to the island in the 1920s, had obliterted Canroe’s grass-cover and virtually all of its vegetation, thus exposing the houses and the field system. The excavations demonstrated the occurrence of two main periods of occupation. The first phase dated to the Early Medieval period and may have preceded the second phase, which was also Early Medieval in date, by a short time only. This latter phase produced several finds of Scandinavian character, which may point to the existence of a Hiberno-Viking settlement on the island at this time. The excavation also provided some evidence for the temporary occupation of Canroe during the Medieval period. The evidence for the earliest period of occupation consists of five houses (1-5), fifteen cairns (9-23), six animal shelters (24-29) and all but four of the field walls (32). All of these features occurred on the turf-covered surface of the boulder clay which was later engulfed in wind-blown sand. The excavator interpreted the presence of cairns as being suggestive of the practice of tillage, a theory reinforced by the finding of two querns re-used in the construction of one of the later houses (6). Stock-raising also appears to have been practised. Associated with almost all of the houses were deposits of limpet and periwinkle shells. The site appears to have been abandoned with the accumulation of a layer of sand, averaging .5m thick, which was followed by a period when vegetation again became established. This resulted in the development of another turf layer, averaging .55m thick, on which a great scatter of angular stones accumulated. The second phase of occupation appears to be contemporary with this last layer and comprises three houses (6-8), two animal shelters (30-31) and four field walls (33-36). The turf-layer joining house (6) with houses (7) and (8) no longer exists, but the excavator considered it likely that all three houses were contemporary. There may have been a greater emphasis on stock-raising during this period, and ox, pig, sheep, fish and sea-birds are represented in its bone assemblage. Great quantities of shell-fish were also uncovered. These houses were abandoned when a .8m deep sand layer accumulated very rapidly. This was followed by the formation of more thin turf layers. Houses: (1) This is O’Kelly’s House 2, and was fully excavated. Located 60m E of House 6, only the foundations of this circular structure, 6.5m in internal diameter, survived. Its wall may have been up to 2m in thickness, but almost all its facing stones were robbed. The .7m wide entrance at SE was marked by two upright jambstones. Excavation revealed the remains of an inner structure which appeared to have been built with the facing stones of House (1), and, therefore, postdates it. The wall of the inner structure was also subsequently robbed of its facing slabs. Its entrance, marked by a few larger slabs, was directly opposite that of House (2). No domestic refuse was recovered from this house, which was interpreted as an animal shelter or an enclosure. (2-5) These are O'Kelly's Houses 3, 4, 5 and 8, and were marked only by the remnants of their foundation courses, which were robbed in antiquity. Two are located close to the E shore, one occurs close to the summit of Canroe, and the fourth is on the lower W side of it. (6) Located on the E slope of Canroe, this semi-subterranean house, O’Kelly’s House 1, was fully excavated. Prior to excavation it appeared as a large mound of stone, with some facing visible, and with a large deposit of shells and animal bone extending from its E side. Excavation revealed it to be a circular house, 11m in external diameter. Its corbelled wall stood to a maximum height of 3.5m above the original floor level and averaged 1.9m in basal thickness. Though well-built, its finish is rough and uneven with many large interstices. There is a lintelled entrance passage, 2.5m long, with inclining jambs at E; at its inner end it measures .82m in basal width and 1.75m in height, and at its outer end, marked by a threshold slab, it measures 1.15m and 1.95m respectively. Beyond the outer wall-face the open passage, with sides built of boulders, extended for a further 5m. The innermost lintel of the entrance passage bore a Runic inscription on its underside. The initial words of this inscription are fairly well-preserved but its end is almost completely obliterated. It was read as: LIR . RISTI . STIN . ThINA + [MUNUIKL] . RISTI . [RUN] This reading was translated by Kavanagh (in O’Kelly 1956, 174) as: LIR ERECTED THIS STONE; M . . . CARVED (THE) RUNES Kavanagh suggested that the inscription probably dates to sometime between 1000 and 1100 AD. An equal-armed cross is pocked onto the surface of the stone above the second word of the inscription. The stone is now in CPM (L286). The internal diameter of the house at floor level is 6.75m. Its corbelled wall features an overhang of .25m, and its internal basal course occurs approximately 1m below that of the exterior. Vertical joints are apparent where the stones were not properly overlapped. The building had a timber-framed roof, with the ends of the radial timbers anchored in six oblique sockets located around the circuit of the wall-face at an average height of 2m above floor level. A lintelled opening is located above doorway, and may have served to relieve its lintels of some of the weight of the super incumbent masonry. Its rear wall contains a small ope that runs through to the outer wall-face of the house, possibly serving as a ventilator. At NW a number of interstices occur at a height of 1.5m and may have facilitated the erection of some wooden furnishing. An oval wall-niche is located in the wall at S, .75m above original ground level. A saddle and a rotary quern were incorporated in the wall during its construction. The floor deposit comprised a black, sticky, carbonised spread containing large quantities of shells and bone. It overlay a large hearth, centrally located, which contained wood ash, shell and bone; an upright slab served as a hearth-back. Abutting the N side of House 6 is a later rectangular building of inferior masonry. It measures 4.5m x 3m internally and its walls stand to a maximum height of 1.15m. They average 1.2m in width, and reach a maximum thickness of 2m on either side of the .75m wide entrance at E. Excavation revealed a floor deposit comprising a layer of refuse which overlay a hearth. Beneath this was the original floor of humus-laden sand, in which post-holes were found at three corners; these presumably held the roof supports. A layer of habitation refuse extended from outside the entrance of this house towards the entrance of the main house. House 6 was intermittently occupied on a temporary basis after its interior became infilled with sand. Two roughly built shelters, one stratigraphically above the other and each associated with midden material, wer