Hut site in Loughgur

In pasture at the S end of narrow N-S steep sided valley that bisects Knockadoon Peninsula separating Back Hill to the W and Knockmore to the E. Site I (LI032-022023-) was excavated in 1945 by Professor Seán P. Ó Ríordáin (1954, 435-42). The excavated remains form part of a wider complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement that was discovered during a campaign of archaeological excavation over 18 seasons. Archaeological excavations were conducted by Ó Ríordáin at Site J (LI032-022024-) 55m to N; Circle J (LI032-022020-) 70m to SW; Site 12 (LI032-022007-) 265m to W and Circle L (LI032-022030-) 180m to NE. The site is not depicted on historic OSi maps but is visible as a tree covered area on both OSi orthoimages taken 2005-12 and on Digital Globe orthophoto taken 2011-2013. Ó Ríordáin (ibid., 435) described the location of the excavation at the S end of a series of field lynchets that define cultivation terraces (LI032-022001-) orientated E-W within the valley. The purpose of the investigation at Site I was to ‘excavate a small hut placed against the fourth terrace’ and to ‘discover the relationship of this terrace with the ditch and bank, to reveal the construction of the third terrace and to investigate the area between the terraces’. According to Ó Ríordáin ‘the hut was a small and poorly-built structure’ as was the terrace alongside it. Excavation revealed the hut to be very ’irregularly rectangular’ (int. dims 3m N-S; 2.5m E-W). Four irregularly placed post-holes discovered in the interior of the hut were not deemed sufficient to suggest a roof type. A gap in the wall at the SW corner indicates the probable position of the entrance; the hearth was against the S wall associated with Western Neolithic pottery (3000 BC). Field terracing and enclosures were uncovered at the site as well as a human inhumation burial, later finds suggest that the structures are not all cotemporary. The enclosure is partially visible on Google Earth orthoimages under regenerating woodland taken 16/03/2016 and 28/06/2018. Much of the site remains unexcavated. See attached Google Earth orthoimages Compiled by: Edmond O’Donovan Date of upload: 24 November 2020