Partially hachured — Knockea,toberyquin

Only the E half of the earthwork survives above ground immediately E of a stone wall which forms the townland boundary with Toberyquin, on the S-facing slope of Knockea Hill with panoramic views to E, S and W. Monument, depicted as circular enclosure (diam. c. 25m) bisected by townland boundary running N-S on 1841 ed. OSi six-inch map. Enclosing element of monument has been levelled on W side of the townland boundary. Present remains consist of a semi-circular shaped area (dims. 15m N-S; 12m E-W) enclosed by an earth-and-stone bank (int. H 0.2m; Wth 2.3m; ext. H 0.2m) which is now visible on the E side of the townland boundary. The interior is uneven and slopes down to the SW. A season of archaeological excavation in 1960 by Professor O'Kelly of UCC (O Kelly 1967, Site II) revealed at least two periods of activity at the site. In the first, a narrow shallow ditch was cut to surround a circular area in which a number of wattle huts or houses had been built, with no evidence of an enclosing bank. In the second, a circular enclosure of similar size had been formed by digging a deep ditch with the ditch material forming the core of an internal bank faced with a wooden palisade inside and out. It appears as though the bank and palisade were constructed while the ringfort was inhabited and did not represent a resettling of the site after an absence, but rather a re-defending of the site during a time of upheaval. At a later stage an angular wattle house was built partly on the ditch which had been filled partly with the weathered palisade bank. Several bone implements were recovered from the site as well as some evidence of iron smelting in the vicinity. The excavator dated the site to the Early Medieval period. This excavation has been recently re-evaluated by Talbot (2019, 93-4) who described the monument as follows; 'O’Kelly’s Site II (Fig. 7) is comprised of a shallow curvilinear enclosure, 50cm deep, which was possibly cut as a palisade trench and ‘not a ditch proper’, as O’Kelly termed it (O’Kelly 1967, 84). O’Kelly identified ten cut features within this enclosure as ‘houses’, though this cannot confidently be said of all of these features, and a high degree of variation in terms of morphology potentially indicates that they had differing uses and dates. O’Kelly termed this group of monuments ‘Period I’ (ibid., 86). The enclosure shown in Fig. 7 has been interpreted as the primary enclosure and, as has been stated previously, was likely an intentionally shallow-ditched feature. The majority of the house features lie within the primary ditch enclosure, indicating that they were perhaps broadly contemporary with it (ibid.). Houses J and K, however, seem to underlie the primary ditch feature, indicating that they preceded the construction of the enclosing monument. Feature or House J consists of a curving ditch 30cm wide and 15cm deep and is suggestive of a curvilinear or circular hut. A secondary period is indicated by the construction of a much larger secondary enclosure consistent with more typical ringfort morphology (ibid., 89). This secondary period enclosure was 30.6m in diameter, bivallate in form and likely palisaded. We might assume, given the recognisable form of the secondary ringfort and its morphology, that it likely dates from some time within the primary period of ringfort construction between AD 600 and 900 (O’Sullivan et al. 2013, 64). The direct relationship between the two proposed periods of occupation is uncertain. O’Kelly considered that the absence of an ‘old turf line’ between the two phases may be indicative of continuation. However, modern agricultural disturbance made the exact determination of this impossible. Similarly, the house forms identified in ‘Period I’ of Site II may be compared with more recently excavated sites displaying similar morphologies. From O’Kelly’s publication on the season of excavation undertaken at Knockea, it seems that the features marked as J and K (Fig. 7) underlie the ‘Period I’ shallow enclosing ditch. Curvilinear house forms are present in Irish archaeology at a very early stage and the fact that both features J and K are earlier than the construction of the primary enclosing feature may suggest that they represent settlement activity at this site at a date earlier than the sixth century. In terms of the house structures associated with Site II, House A is in a unique position to supply a suggested date for the construction of the primary ditch, being situated just inside the primary ditch and covered with primary habitation refuse (O’Kelly 1967, 86). This is a house of rectilinear form with straight sides and curved or apsidal corners, indicated by the foundation trench. Comparisons may be drawn with some of the houses excavated at Fishamble Street in Dublin, most notably the Type 1 Hiberno-Norse houses. The average Type 1 Hiberno-Norse house is rectangular in plan, often with a door on each end and a floor space divided lengthwise into three ‘naves’. Within the central nave is often a stone-lined fireplace (Wallace 1992, 9). While the rectilinear plan and the presence of a central fireplace are comparable to the Type 1 houses and may suggest that settlement was taking place during the tenth and eleventh centuries at Knockea, there are a number of inconsistencies which might suggest that House A at Knockea does not derive from the same tradition. Firstly, there was clear evidence that House A contained only one entrance, presumably at the north or east. Secondly, no internal divisions were identified within the structure. Thirdly, although a central hearth was present, it was not stone-lined and the first fire was likely lit on the ground (O’Kelly 1967, 86). Finally, the internal area of House A, measuring 20m², is far smaller than the average floor space identified amongst Type 1 Fishamble Street houses'. See attached labelled Hillshade image of enclosures/earthworks on Knockea, taken from Talbot 2019, 91 and Fig. 7 of Site II taken from Talbot 2019, 92. Compiled by: Denis Power Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 23 March 2022