House — Neolithic in Loughgur

In rocky pasture on the S-facing slope of Knockadoon Peninsula, 100m N of and overlooking Lough Gur. The circular Neolithic house site (Site C House III) was discovered in 1949 during a campaign of archaeological excavations over 18 seasons led by Professor Seán P. Ó Ríordáin at Lough Gur (1954, 321-84). The site is located within an area of dense archaeological activity dating principally from the Neolithic and Bronze Age up to the present day around the lake (Cleary 2018). Further Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement is located adjacent to the site. Archaeological excavations by Ó Ríordáin at Site A (LI032-022010-) were located c. 55m SW. Archaeological excavations by Ó Ríordáin at Site D (LI032-022016/017/018-) were located c. 20m to NE. Many other archaeological sites are located on the peninsula, including Circle K (LI032-022028-) lies 92m to NNW. The Neolithic house site (LI032-022015- Site C House III) is not depicted on historic OSi maps. The site is not visible on OSi orthoimages taken 2005-12 or on the Digital Globe orthoimages taken 2011-2013. Rose Cleary (2018, 83-4) described the site as follows: ‘House III: this house, located immediately NE of House II, was excavated in 1949. House III was structurally different to Houses I and II in that the perimeter wall was a single line of posts set at irregularly spaced intervals, from 0.2m to 1.5m apart. The posts were described as light, with depths of 0.1—0.2m, but these depths only represent the tips of the posts where they had been driven into the boulder clay. House III was roughly circular in plan, with a diameter of 5m. A slightly off-centre large (diameter 0.3m) internal post-hole may have held a roof-support post. Two burnt patches within the house were possible hearth sites. A yellow clay bank c. 4.2m to the NW of House III was composed of a mixture of redeposited boulder clay, charcoal, organic matter and some unspecified finds. It sat on a layer of occupation soil and a possible hearth. Ó Ríordáin suggested that the bank was backed by posts and postulated some type of enclosure on the NW side of House II, but the evidence for this is not convincing. Concentrations of post-holes were recorded to the NE of House III but there was no clear pattern, although these may have been the vestiges of a house. Stone ‘walls’ traversed the area excavated in 1949; these were in the SW corner, across the yellow clay bank, to the W of House III and on the N periphery of the excavated area. The walls appeared to have been single courses of stones and it is unlikely that they ever stood to any great height. Some walls were high up in the stratigraphy and unrelated to the Neolithic occupation of the site. The faint outline of the excavation grid orientated E-W is visible on Google Earth orthoimage taken 28/06/2018. The exact site location of House III is not clear and the location suggested here is the best estimate based on the text of the excavation report and attempting to correlate site photos and recent aerial orthoimages. See attached Google Earth orthoimage Compiled by: Edmond O’Donovan Date of upload: 12 November 2020