Not shown — Hermitage

In pasture, at the base of the valley, on the S side of the River Shannon. Not depicted on OS historic mapping. A fording point (LI001-001----) is located c. 100m to NE. Identified during archaeological testing (License No. 01E0319) which consisted of an advanced topsoil strip, within the way-leave corridor for the Castleconnell Sewerage Scheme (McCutcheon 2001). The feature was excavated (License No. 01E0319 ext.) in Area A and recorded as C5, a subcircular-shaped cremation pit (0.5m E-W; 0.6m N-S; D 0.4m), in the centre of which was a large stone axe (01E0319:3:1), set blade-downwards and which had once rested against a post C11, that had been driven into the base of the pit prior to the deposition of the cremation (Collins 2001, 29). It is reasonable to suggest that this post projected out of the ground above the cremation pit, and may have served as a grave-marker (ibid). An area of burning and heat-reddened boulder clay in close proximity may be the site of the cremation pyre (ibid). The way-leave and spoil-heaps were also inspected for artefacts. Several axe fragments were retrieved in this exercise, as well as most of the worked chert and flint (71 fragments of flint and 116 of chert were recovered). Artefact analysis and dating are in progress. There is no visible surface expression of the monument on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by: Alison McQueen, and Vera Rahilly Date of upload: 18 June 2020 Archaeological excavation in 2001 under licence No. 01E0319 ext. was summarised by Aegis Archaeology as following; 'This site was originally test-trenched by Sarah McCutcheon (see No. 762 above) as the way-leave for the Castleconnell Rising Main was cutting through the zone of archaeological potential for RMP LI001-001----, a potential fording-point of the River Shannon just downstream from Castleconnell village. The trenching revealed the presence of several possible archaeological features, which Ægis was contracted by the local authority to excavate. The excavation covered an area of about 4,400 square metres. It was divided into four areas, A-D. Area A revealed three features. These included a shallow circular pit and a circular cremation pit, in the centre of which was a large stone axe, set blade-downwards. This axe had once rested against a post that had been driven into the base of the pit prior to the deposition of the cremation. It is reasonable to suggest that this post projected out of the ground above the cremation pit, and possibly served as a grave-marker. The third feature was an area of burning and heat-reddened boulder clay, which might be the site of the cremation pyre. There were two distinct areas of activity in Area B. One had a large concentration of stake- and post-holes, with up to three small subcircular huts tentatively identified in the first zone, and a stone axe. Some of the features had been disturbed by tree root activity, so their identification was somewhat hampered. The second area was characterised by small stake-holes and slot-trenches. One of the slot-trenches was interpreted as a horseshoe-shaped hut, which was associated with worked flint and chert (although no chipping floors were identified), and had a stone axe, tentatively identified as an adze type, deposited within the slot-trench. This feature was truncated by the baulk, so it was not fully revealed. To the south-west of this hut a large cremation pit was excavated, containing one individual and no grave-goods. To the east a badly truncated keyhole-shaped drying kiln was excavated, which is presumed to be later in date than the other features. Area C was the largest in the excavation and included most of the estate features excavated, such as field boundaries, sumps and furrows. There were some pits and the remnants of burnt spreads, but none yielded dating evidence or artefacts. The way-leave partially impacted on a fulacht fiadh, from which samples for dating were taken. This fulacht fiadh seemed to be associated with several shallow subcircular pits, which were filled with heat-shattered stone and may have been roasting pits. Area D contained several pit features, which did not contain any datable material, under a burnt spread which appeared to be of modern origin and so was not itself suitable for dating purposes. The way-leave and spoil-heaps were also inspected for artefacts. Several axe fragments were retrieved in this exercise, as well as most of the worked chert and flint (71 fragments of flint and 116 of chert were recovered). Artefact analysis and dating are in progress' (www.excavations.ie). This excavation was recently described as following; 'Cremation pyre by Aaron Watson (after Williams 2006) On a bend of the River Shannon, Ireland’s largest watercourse, a small band of hunter-gathers came to together nearly 9,500 years ago, to bury one of their own. At what is now known as Hermitage, Co. Limerick, they placed the remains of a man upon a large funerary pyre. It was then lit and afterwards the cremated bone was carefully gathered together and placed within a small pit, marked by a wooden post. Over the following years two more burials were added to this small cemetery and thus Ireland’s oldest-known graveyard was founded. The earliest burial at the site was located within a sub-circular pit that measured 0.60m in diameter by 0.30m deep (Collins & Coyne 2003). The pit also contained evidence for a wooden post, approximately 0.20 m in diameter that may have represented a grave marker or some form of totem pole. The cremated remains had been carefully placed at the base of the pit in a crescent shape around the wooden post. They consisted of 1979g of burnt bone and represented the remains of an adult individual, possibly a male. The bone was efficiently cremated demonstrating that the people performing the rite were familiar with the procedure. Axe from cremation burial 1 (Collins & Coyne 2003) A large stone axe was found in association with the burial remains, along with a number of flint and chert artefacts. The axe had evidence for burning, suggesting that it had also been placed on the funerary pyre. Radiocarbon analysis of a bone fragment from the cremation returned an Early Mesolithic date of 7530-7320 BC (Collins & Coyne 2006), confirming that this was the oldest burial thus far identified in Ireland. The second Mesolithic burial was located approximately 100m away from the first cremation. It was deposited in a much larger pit that measured 2.30m long by 1.50m wide by 0.65m deep and in this instance there was no evidence for an associated wooden post. A small deposit of cremated bone, representing an adult individual, of indeterminate gender, was found in the pit. One of the fragments of bone was radiocarbon dated to 7090-7030 BC, making this burial slightly later in date than the first one. Finds from the burial included worked and un-worked chert pieces along with burnt fish bone (Driscoll 2006). The latter possibly represents the deceased’s last meal or else a food offering that had been placed on the funerary pyre. The human remains consisted of just 179g of bone, which is well below the expected weight of an adult cremation (c. 1,000-2,400g, after McKinley 1993, 285). This suggests that only part of the individual was deposited within the pit. This form of ‘token burial’ is characteristic of much of Irish prehistory. The reasoning behind this practice is uncertain but it is possible that part of the cremated bone was kept by the living as ancestral relics (see Brook 2006, 80) or else that selected fragments were deposited in the adjacent River Shannon. This latter option is paralleled in modern India, where some cremations burials are still deposited in the sacred waters of the River Ganges. The 1st cremation pit & posthole (Collins & Coyne, 2003) The final Mesolithic burial contained and even smaller amount of cremated bone. Consequently the deposit could not be conclusively identified as human and its f