House — Bronze Age in Loughgur

In rocky pasture on the S-facing slope of Knockadoon Peninsula, 118m N of and overlooking Lough Gur. The oval Bronze Age house (Site D House I) was discovered during a campaign of archaeological excavations over 18 seasons led by Professor Seán P. Ó Ríordáin at Lough Gur (1954, 384-413). 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). Two other houses (Houses II (LI032-022017-); and House III (LI032-022018-) were found during the archaeological excavations at Site D. Further Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement is located adjacent to the site. Archaeological excavations by Ó Ríordáin at Site A (LI032-022010-) were located 100m SW. Archaeological excavations by Ó Ríordáin at Site C (LI032-022012/013/014/015-) were located c. 20m to SW. Many other archaeological sites are located on the peninsula, including Circle K (LI032-022028-) located 100m to NW and Circle J (LI032-022020-) located 45m to NE. The Bronze Age house site (LI032-022016- Site D House I) is not depicted on historic OSi maps. The stone that delineates the E side of the house and the bedrock that it is built against on the W are visible on OSi orthoimages taken 2005-12 and on Digital Globe orthoimages taken 2011-2013. Rose Cleary (2018, 83-4) described the site as follows: ‘House I: walls visible on the surface prior to the excavation were interpreted by Ó Ríordáin as stone foundations marking the basal levels of a house that was roughly rectangular in plan, measuring 5.5m N-S by 3.5m E-W. The stones on the SW side were set upright on a roughly cobbled surface or on exposed bedrock and were supported by smaller stones and sods wedged under the uprights. The foundation at the W end of the house was on a rock outcrop. The type of superstructure House I may have had is unknown, although Ó Ríordáin suggested that the walls above the stone foundation may have been built of sods. There was a stone-lined post-hole, possibly for a roof support, near the centre of the house. House I partly overlay the floor area of a middle Neolithic round house (House II). There are no locational details of the finds from House I. Ó Ríordáin noted that decoration on the Class II pottery was rare and this might indicate a date in the late Bronze Age. A number of sherds illustrated in the published record have perforations below the rims that also suggest a late Bronze Age date. A line of large stones to the S of the house extended across a narrow valley to link with outcropping rock; a short section of a second wall at the E end of the line of stones was c. 1.2m to the N. The intermediary space between the walls was used as a rubbish dump and a considerable amount of occupation debris, including Class II pottery and animal bones, was recovered from the area. Ó Ríordáin suggested that the accumulation of rubbish inside the wall created a level surface that served as a yard for the house. Two other walls c. 15m to the N of the house also closed off the area around the house and were c. 3m apart. The N enclosing wall was built of large stones, and occupation debris, including animal bones and Class II pottery, had accumulated against it. The S wall was built of smaller stones set into a natural rock fissure. Ó Ríordáin interpreted the walls to the N and S of the Bronze Age house as terraces to prevent soil and scree from washing down the hill. Alternatively, the walls could have formed an enclosure around House I similar to the enclosure at Site 10 (LI032-022003-). The line of the stones that mark the outline of House I are visible on Google Earth orthoimage taken 28/06/2018. To see a 3D model of this house site, visit: https://skfb.ly/osrzC See attached Google Earth orthoimage Compiled by: Edmond O’Donovan Date of upload: 12 November 2020