MONAGHAN COUNTY MUSEUM IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE … · Almost all archaeological sites are lost. Those sites we know about are usually made with large stones, large walls or large

MONAGHAN COUNTY MUSEUM

IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE NATIONAL ROADS AUTHORITY

LIFE AND DEATH IN MONAGHAN

Comhairle Contae MhuineacháinMonaghan County Council

RESULTS FROM THE N2 CARRICKMACROSS BYPASS EXCAVATIONS 2003

MONAGHAN COUNTY MUSEUM IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE NATIONAL ROADS AUTHORITY


Comhairle Contae MhuineacháinMonaghan County Council RESULTS FROM THE N2 CARRICKMACROSS BYPASS EXCAVATIONS 2003

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“LIFE AND DEATH IN MONAGHAN”RESULTS FROM THE N2 CARRICKMACROSS BYPASSEXCAVATIONS 2003Monaghan County Museum, in conjunction with the National RoadsAuthority presents “Life and Death in Monaghan”, an exhibitionchronically the stories of how people lived and died from the StoneAge, when the County of Monaghan didn’t even exist up until therebellious times of the 1600’s. Over the last number of years the NRAhas created 26km’s of new roads in Monaghan and from thearchaeological investigations connected with these road projects, thesoil has brought forth a wealth of information about our rich and diverseheritage. A heritage, which will be displayed in this ground breakingshow by the use of colourful and interactive displays, scale models ofarchaeological sites and actual skeletal remains.

SPECIAL THANKSWE WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE HARD WORK,CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPERTISE OF THE FOLLOWINGPEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONS WITHOUT WHOM THISEXHIBITION WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE.The National Roads AuthorityMonaghan County CouncilStaff of Monaghan County MuseumNational MuseumNiall Roycroft, Project Archaeologist NRAFintan Walsh, Site Director, Irish Archaeological Consultancy LtdTim Coughlan, Site Director, Irish Archaeological Consultancy LtdIan Johnston, Irish Archaeological Consultancy LtdStaff of Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd for fieldwork excavations and post-excavationreport drawingsKevin Gartlan and the Farney Workhouse GroupPaddy Johnson, Senior Engineer, Monaghan County CouncilJohn McGrath, Senior Executive Engineer, Monaghan County CouncilEffie Photos-Jones, Lisanisk metalworking analysis, Analytic Services for Art andArchaeology (Scotland) LtdJennie Coughlan, Skeleton cranial reconstruction




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CLOGHVALLEY UPPER CEMETERY

MONANNY RING FORT

MONANNY SITE

BURNT MOUNDS / COOKING AREALISANISK (2KM SOUTH)

N2 TOCARRICKMACROSS

(2 KM)

EXCAVATION SITE – SUMMER 2003




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The largest archaeological campaign everseen in County Monaghan began in 2003.Monaghan County Council and the NationalRoads Authority have now completedarchaeological digs along 26km of newroads with decisive results showing theunique nature of ‘Life and Death inMonaghan’. The roads where thearchaeology was found are the N2Carrickmacross Bypass, the N2Castleblayney Bypass and the N2Monaghan Town Bypass. All excavationswere managed by Niall Roycroft, NRAArchaeologist and undertaken by IrishArchaeological Consultancy Limited withSite Directors Fintan Walsh and TimCoughlan.

The results represent an archaeologicalexcavation trench right up the middle of thecounty. As new roads are deliberately builtto avoid known archaeological sites, theresults are an insight into the buried or ‘lost’archaeology of the county. The road-workshave revealed a great hidden wealth ofhistory, prehistory, tradition and technology.

The star project was Carrickmacross,where 3 main sites of incredible

importance to the story of Monaghan werefound. In fact, the Carrickmacross remainswere so well preserved and well recorded,that they add greatly to the whole study ofIrish Archaeology

FIRST…3 Neolithic houses were found in thetownland of Monanny and were dated tobetween 3900 to 3700 BC

NEXT….A double ditched ringfort in the townland ofLisanisk dating to the early Medieval periodc.7th century AD

LOCATION OF THE 3 EXCAVATED SITES ON THE CARRICKMACROSS

N2 BYPASSINTRODUCTION

ILLUSTRATION OF A NEOLITHICFISHING BASKET




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WHERE IS ARCHAEOLOGY?Almost all archaeological sites are lost. Those sites we knowabout are usually made with large stones, large walls or largeislands in lakes. Six thousand years of small farms andvillages have almost all been swept away, mostly throughabandonment and collapse, followed by continued farming

and development.

Traces of sites do survive below fields, lakesor modern towns but this is only a tiny bitof what was once there. Archaeologistsneed to be forensic detectives in orderto piece together long lost cultures fromsmall bits of scattered evidence.

If we remove the modern coating offields, towns and roads we are left with

the natural ‘physical’ landscape. In thislandscape of drumlins, valleys and lakes,

some areas are better to live in than others.However, it is the culture that determines which sites are bestsuited to its particular needs. It is usually only when we find asite that we understand why people wanted to live at anyparticular spot at any particular time.

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THE NEOLITHIC INMONAGHAN C.4000 - 2400BCNEOLITHIC FISHERMENNeolithic farmers were also hunters andone of the best wild animals to hunt inIreland has always been salmon. TheNeolithic settlement site at Monanny,Carrickmacross lies adjacent to a smallsalmon spawning stream that eventuallyleads to the River Glyde.

Having tons of fresh fish swim to yourdoorstep every year is a great bonus. Itis much easier to catch fish in shallowwater than deep water, so the fish-filledstreams attract people and the peoplebuild their monuments to help mark theirterritories.

Seen like this the Neolithic settlement ofCounty Monaghan begins to take shape.Sites are located near to streamsleading:

� INTO THE FINN RIVER BETWEENSMITHBOROUGH AND NEWBLISS,

� INTO THE DROMORE RIVER TO THE EAST OF BALLYBAY

� INTO MUCKNO LOUGH TO ROSSLOUGH AND THE RIVER FANE

� INTO THE ANNALEE RIVER AROUND SHERCOCK.




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SCARVY STANDING STONE

Monanny was 3 rectangular buildings nextto a salmon spawning stream. It datesbetween 3900 BC and 3700 BC and thepeople were part of a Neolithic groupstretching across north Leinster andsoutheast Ulster. The Monanny site facessouth to catch the sun, is sheltered frommost winds and controls a fertile, if ratherboggy, valley bottom. It was ideal forgrowing crops, raising animals, hunting andgathering fuel.

The buildings were made of vertical woodenoak planks set in a foundation trench andtied to upright posts. On the outside of theplanks, turf sods were piled up to createwind and weather-proof walls. The buildingswere probably thatched.

Ploughing had removed floors, hearths andany middens and only those finds thathappened to end up in the foundationtrenches or pits survived. Finds tell us howthe site was built and what people did in thehouses.

Some finds were deliberately put into thebuilding foundation trench, such as a stoneporcellanite axe, placed either forsafekeeping or as part of a ritual. Mostly,though, finds ended up in the trench byaccident. All buildings need repairing, andthese buildings needed repairing frequently.In digging out split / rotten planks or postsand putting in new ones, some of what waslying on the floor of the building was sweptup and dumped into the repair holes. In thisway wild seeds, cereal grains, hazelnutshells, burnt animal bone and pottery havesurvived.

From these remains we can see that cereals(emmer wheat and naked barley) weregrown and dried prior to being ground intoflour, animals were eaten and the bonestossed onto the fire, hazel nuts weregathered and stored and pottery was madeand used.

The site could quite easily have beenoccupied for several hundred years.

NEOLITHIC SITE AT MONANNY

FROM THE MUSEUMCOLLECTION

UNFINISHED STONE AXE


FLINT ARROW HEADS USEDBY NEOLITHIC HUNTERS


FLINT STONE AXE HEAD

OBJECTS FROM THE MONAGHAN MUSEUMCOLLECTION DATING TO THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD.THE LARGE SADDLE QUERN STONE WAS USED TOGRIND GRAIN FOR BREAD. THE FLINT AROWHEADSWERE USED FOR HUNTING AND THE STONE AXESWERE USED FOR CUTTING DOWN TREES.




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AERIAL VIEW OF MONANNY SITE UNDER EXCAVATION

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ARTISTS IMPRESSION OF WHAT MONANNY SITE MAY HAVE LOOKED LIKE

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NEOLITHIC HOUSE WITHROOF OVERHANG

ENCLOSED PEN FORSHEEP/CATTLE

NEOLITHICSITE AT

MONANNY




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THE WALLSNeolithic buildings use upright woodenposts approx 5ft to approx 8ft long tofix the building to the ground. Verticalplank walls would have been 1.5m highfor the long sides and up to 2.5m highon the short sides. Long poles ofaround 16ft approx were used to formthe roof and cross-ties.

THE WINDOWSAny windows would have beenconfined to the top gable ends of theshort sides. Windows would have beenblocked up with a piece of turf if it gottoo cold or windy.

THE ROOFThe roof would have been thatchedand therefore quite heavy. Smoke fromhearth fires inside ensured the thatchstayed dry and did not rot, so it lastedfor many years at a time. The roofwould probably have sloped to near

the ground to protect the walls fromthe weather. More poles would havebeen used over the years to stop theroof falling in!

DIFFERENT ROOMSDividing the inside into rooms is a clearfeature of larger Neolithic houses. Oneroom took the role of entrance lobby-work-meeting-cooking area withbedding around the side. The otherroom probably started off as a‘valuables’ room where vital foodstores were kept fresh, close enough tobe guarded but away from the heat ofthe main room. Later the idea ofdividing the internal building spaceinto two more equal rooms seems todevelop.

DOORSDoors were found in all threebuildings. Two were placed on thesheltered northern, long sides. Theposition of the doorway is a reflectionof the way the building is put together.Building 3 was the most sophisticatedand used lateral buttress posts to helpsupport the roof. This meant that thebest place to put the door was on theshort side.

There is no evidence for a doorway intothe small room in Building 2,

either from the outside or from theother room. It is likely there was nodoorway to the outside and access wasfrom the other inside room only.Perhaps this access was via an up-and-over ladder. Perhaps when the roomwas to be loaded with goods a sectionof wall was simply dismantled to allowaccess.

A doorway between the two roomsinside Building 3 is clearly seen by abreak in the internal wall.

DETAIL TAKEN FROM ANEOLITHIC DWELLING

RECONSTRUCTION




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The Monanny pottery is plain carinated bowls. Carinated bowls have a rounded base and then a shoulder(carination), followed by a curved neck and a rounded rim. Rounded bases are stronger than flat bases andallow for both cooking and pot stacking. Between 76 and 200 pots are represented at Monanny, but this isonly a tiny percentage of what must have been used on site.

The pottery was made here with the clay collected from a pool in the nearby stream. Once dug out, the claywas kneaded together with fine (dried) grass as well as stone grits and sands from the stream bed. These‘inclusions’ gave the clay added strength. All of the vessels were coil built, which involved taking rolled stripsof clay and wrapping them around to form the pot.

Once the pot had been built, it was smoothed. A few pots were finished with a thin wash of fine clay. Whenthis clay was dry, but before firing, these pots were burnished by rubbing with a leather cloth to provide aneven finer finish.

ARTISTS IMPRESSION OF BUILDING ‘3’ WITH THE ROOF REMOVED

ARTISTS IMPRESSION OF BUILDING ‘2’ WITH THE ROOF REMOVED

NEOLITHIC COOKING POTS

A B

FROM THE MUSEUM COLLECTIONEARLY BRONZE AGE COOKING POTS, SIMILAR TOTHOSE FOUND AT MONANNY

A B

LENNAN PORTAL TOMB, CO. MONAGHAN




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WHAT IS ARCHAEOLOGY?It is the study of human life in the past bythe examination of the material left behind.Examples of this would be the foundationsof a building or human, animal and plantremains.

WHAT DOES AN ARCHAEOLOGISTDO?An archaeologist digs up and records thematerial left behind by people who livedhundreds and thousands of years ago and

tries to find out about how theylived their lives using theevidence that they find.

WHAT IS A DOUBLEDITCHED RINGFORT?This is a roughly circularenclosure surrounded by

two banks made of earth witha large ditch in front of each.

They are built as high-statussettlements for a family of prestige and areoften used for storage, industry and toguard cattle or sheep. They typically date toearly Medieval Period.

WHAT IS THE NEOLITHIC?This relates to period c. 4000-2400BC.This was the beginning of farming in Irelandwhen people stopped moving from place toplace in search of food and startingworking the land with their stone andwooden tools. They also built largeMegalithic Tombs such Lennan Portal Tomband Lisnadarragh Wedge Tomb and thecountry’s most famous Passage Tomb,Newgrange

WHAT IS THE EARLY MEDIEVALPERIOD?This refers to a period in history from c. 400 -1200AD

WHAT IS A “MIDDEN”?A midden is a dumping site for domesticwaste such as animal bones, rotten food,vermin and broken pottery

There are four times as many known Bronze Age sites in nearby CountyLouth than in County Monaghan. The soils in county Louth aregenerally richer and easier to work. The increased availablefarmland, probably led to a greater population and somore sites and monuments. It is likely that much ofCounty Monaghan was quite sparsely populated at thistime. This theory is backed up by the lack of burntmounds (also known as a fulachta fiadh) found during therecent NRA projects.

BURNT MOUNDS (FULACHTA FIADH)Burnt mounds are places where meat is boiled in a trough filled with water and heated withhot stones. They are the most common site in Ireland and where water is abundant, canoccur in clusters every few hundred metres along a new road development. Over the 26kmof the recent NRA roads there was a group of three near Monaghan town and anothergroup of three at Monanny, Carrickmacross. In burnt mound terms, this is ‘virtually none.’

Burnt mounds are probably intimately connected with cattle. The problem with cattle isfeeding them over winter. It is better to slaughter some of them in the autumn and preservethe meat rather than shelter them and bring in their food. If you need to boil up a wholecow, and this could take ten trough loads, you need a large amount of stone, sacks ofcharcoal and a great volume of water. If you need to boil up ten cows, perhaps over severalyears, the trough needs to be filled, used and emptied up to 100 times. Every time thetrough is used, it fills up with stones and needs to be emptied. This accounts for the large‘discard’ heap of burnt stones and charcoal normally seen in the mound.

MONAGHAN IN THE BRONZE AGE C.2400 – 500BC

FROM THE MUSEUM COLLECTIONSOCKETED BRONZE AXE FROM LATEBRONZE AGE

FROM THE MUSEUM COLLECTIONFLAT BRONZE AXE FROM EARLY BRONZE AGE




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ILLUSTRATION OF A TYPICAL BRONZE AGE DWELLING

BURNT MOUND UNDER EXCAVATION AT MONANNY ARTISTS IMPRESSION OF A BURNT MOUNT BEING USED

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1 BRINGING MEAT TO SITE2 HEATING OF STONES3 WOODEN POLES ALLOWING

MEAT TO DRY4 BURNT MOUND OF ROCK,

CHARCOAL, ASH, FATS

WHAT IS THE BRONZE AGE?This was a time when people stopped usingstone for their tools and weapons and beganto use Bronze, which is a metal alloy ofcopper and tin.

WHAT IS THE IRON AGE? This was a time in Ireland when peoplebegan use this stronger metal known as ironto make their tools and weapons.




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The large Lisdrumturk Cauldron is a typical example of a BronzeAge cooking pot. It was made by riveting together sheets of

bronze. The Bronze Age spear heads would have been used inwarfare and hunting. The bronze was melted down and poured into

stone moulds such as the spear head mould in this image. All objects date to the Bronze Age (c. 2400 to 500BC)

As it is a very efficient way to cook largequantities of meat, burnt mounds are alsotraditionally associated with hunting andgreat feasts.

The burnt mounds on the Monaghan TownBypass were all dated to the early BronzeAge, between 2300 – 1700 BC. Those atMonanny are dated throughout the BronzeAge from 1900 BC and 890 BC.

Late Bronze Age pottery found in a pit atMonanny shows the site was also

occupied. Unfortunately, Bronze Agebuildings are very different to Neolithicbuildings as they are much lighter, circularand made of bendy wattles with only anoccasional solid post. The result is BronzeAge buildings often leave very littlearchaeological evidence and a fewscattered post-holes at Monanny may beall there is to represent a thousand years ofBronze Age settlement.

LATTONFASKY CIST BURIAL MOUND TYPICAL STONE LINED

BURIAL FROM THE BRONZE AGE




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The Iron Age of roughly 600BC to 400AD is a great archaeological mystery.Whilst there is evidence on some sites for great social organization andtechnological advances there is little general archaeological evidence.People did not often build great or small monuments, they did not makepottery and they did not appear to formally bury most of their dead. Noevidence for the Iron Age has so far been identified on the NRA CountyMonaghan schemes.

MONAGHAN IN THE IRON AGE C.500 – 400AD

An Early Medieval ringfort (also known as “FairyForts”) is not so much designed to keep people outas it is to keep cattle in. It was a place where thelocal overlord family managed their estate, usuallyfrom high ground and with enough space to sheltercattle in danger or bad weather. Most ringforts alsoappear to form a network of associated sites, oftenaround a key site. This is most clearly seen withcrannógs (lake settlements), which are oftenoverlooked by several ringforts.

There are 669 known ringforts and 74 crannógs inCounty Monaghan. There are 286 further‘enclosures or earthworks’ of which many areprobably ringforts. Early Medieval sites make up87% of all known archaeological sites in CountyMonaghan. The people who lived in Monaghan atthis time are known as the Airghialla (anglicised toOriel).

There were two ringforts on the CarrickmacrossBypass: both of them double ditched and huge!

The first ringfort was discovered at Lisanisk,Carrickmacross.

It was a tear-drop shape over 60m (196ft) acrosswith the inner ditch slanted to the west to overlooknearby Lisanisk Lough and its crannógs.

At some stage in the 8th century AD the inner bankwas knocked down and the inner ditch deliberatelyfilled in. The reason for this is unclear, but,defensively the layout of the Lisanisk ringfort is poordue to the large distance between the ditches.Alternatively, the owners may have wanted morespace in which to keep their cattle.

The second ringfort was a known site at Monanny.After a geophysical survey, the road was realignedto avoid it. The geophysical survey shows an ovalshaped ringfort with double concentric ditches. Inall, this site is over 100m (328ft) across.

FROM THE MUSEUM COLLECTIONSOCKETED BRONZE AGESPEAR HEAD

MONAGHAN’S EARLYMEDIEVAL c.400AD - LATE12TH CENTURY AD.

AERIAL PHOTO SHOWING LISANISK RINGFORT AND THE LAKE SITE OF 2 POSSIBLE CRANNÓGS




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DOUBLE DITCHED LISANISK RINGFORT

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1. LISANISK RING FORT ON THE HILL2. LISANISK CRANNOG3. POSSIBLE THIRD CRANNOG

EXCAVATIONS AT LISANISK RINGFORT

THE RINGFORT IS ESTIMATED TO HAVE HAD A DIAMETER OF 60 METRES

ARTISTS IMPRESSION OF LISANISKRINGFORT AND CRANNÓGS




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MULLAGHMONAGHAN CRANNÓG (CONVENT LAKE CRANNÓG)

WHAT IS A CRANNOG?A crannog is a man made island found inlakes that is accessible by boat, a hiddenunderwater path or causeway.

The key to metalworking is wood. It has beenestimated that for every 1 ton of metal objectsmade, 25 tons of trees need to be felled, trimmedand turned into charcoal. County Monaghan atthis time still had plenty of trees and during the8th century AD Lisanisk ringfort became anintensive metalworking centre.

Metal is created through several stages. The firststage is to collect the ore (often from bogs), roastit to dry it out and then grind it up into little pieces.The next step is to place ore mixed with charcoalfuel into a pit-like bowl-furnace.

By blasting air into the furnace with a bellows, thefurnace temperature is raised to around 1300oc.The wooden box bellows are protected from theheat by a clay tuyere (blow-hole). At the end of thefiring a large metal ‘cake’ surrounded by slag hasformed in the furnace.

Whilst this cake is still hot, it is removed to an anviland the slag is smashed off with a hammer. Thisleaves a relatively pure lump of metal. We thinkthis what the Lisanisk Metal-workers were doing.

WHEN THINGS GO WRONG!Sometimes the ore and fuel in a bowl furnacecombine into a huge lump of slag which settles onthe bottom of the furnace. When this happens

there is no option but to throw the whole lot away.This failure happened a number of times atLisanisk.

SMITHINGAnother stage in metal-working, known assmithing, involves re-melting the iron in cruciblesand making tools with moulds. Once roughlyshaped the metal goes through a process ofheating and hammering to form the final shape.The hammering knocks out many impurities andair pockets producing a strong yet flexibleproduct. There is no real trace of smithing atLisanisk but it was quite likely carried outsomewhere on the site.

A MAJOR TRADE ROUTELisanisk ringfort overlooks the ancientCarrickmacross road that branches to bothDundalk and Ardee. This road passed along theeastern side of the Lisanisk Lough. Such a majortrade-route may be the reason why the metal-working happened at Lisanisk: the road couldbring in raw materials and take away iron ingots orfinished tools.

EARLY MEDIEVALMETALWORK AT LISANISK




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METAL WORKING AT LISANISK (THE WORK HOLOW) CLOUGHVALLEY UPPER

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1. MOUND OF CHARCOAL2. OPERATING A BOX BELLOWS3. BOWL FURNACE – REDUCES ORE

(PURIFY) INTO A METALLIC STATE4. TIMBER FRAMEWORK TO PROVIDE SHELTER5. WORKING THE IRON ORE

2

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ARTISTS IMPRESSION OF A LARGE FIRE AFTER A BURIAL AT CLOGHVALLEY UPPER WITH MONANNY RINGFORT IN CLOSE PROXIMITY

DISCOVERY OF A TUYERE AT LISANISK

WHAT IS ORE?This is the red water in bogstreams. This rednesscomes from iron and oftenthe iron naturallyaccumulates into lumps(known as bog-ore) in thepeat itself. All it needs isfinding and collecting.

WHAT ISCHARCOAL?Charcoal is generally madefrom wood that has beenburnt or charred in theabsence of oxygen bycovering the fire with turf.

WHAT IS A TUYERE?A clay nozzle throughwhich air is blown into thesmithing hearth.

WHAT AREBELLOWS?This was used to blow airat great speed into afurnace to make the fireburn harder.

WHAT IS SLAG?This is the waste productthat was left over in thefiring process.

ON LOAN FROM THENATIONAL MUSEUMSLASHING WEAPON KNOWNAS A ‘HALBERD’ DATING TOTHE BRONZE AGE




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There was a possible family burial plot atCloghvalley Upper. It probably related to thenearby Monanny Ringfort and dates to the7th – 8th century AD.

7 men, 5 women and 3 children have beenidentified. Loose bones indicate at leastanother two more bodies and more burialsmay exist outside the excavation area.There was no evidence for any violence onthe individuals but the men showedevidence for ‘heavy work’ injuries. Thegeneral lack of children found indicates thatthey enjoyed a generally high level of health.

An interesting find was a calcifiedtapeworm cyst in an older woman. Such acyst could take 10 years to grow in thebody. Tapeworm (a relatively commonintestinal parasite) is spread throughcontaminated faeces from pigs, sheep,cattle, deer or humans. It presence showsa certain lack of hand washing hygiene.

While the cemetery was in use, some of thegraves were re-opened and more peopleput in. As these graves had the bonespushed to the side it is clear that the coffin-graves had plank lids that stopped thebones mixing with grave soil. It must alsohave had a marker so that people knewwhich grave to re-open some ten (or more)years later, once the first body haddecayed.

A complicated grave was that of an 8-9year old child who was buried in a stonelined grave and covered by a woodenplank. Later, the grave was re-dug and anadult female of between 45 and 60 yearsold was placed on top of lower lid. Thisfemale grave was also stone lined andcovered with a plank. Perhaps the olderfemale was the child’s mother.

Over time the wooden parts of both graveshad decayed and the upper body came torest directly on top of the lower.

One burial (the skeleton on display) lay onthe base of a grave that contained theremains of two other people. The bones ofthe previous occupants had been pushedto the side of the grave and the remains oftwo skulls were found. As there is noshortage of space on this site the re-opening of the grave may prove that theywere very important people from the samefamily.

One feature of an Early Medieval graveyardappears to be a large cooking pit aroundwhich celebrations could occur, either atthe time of death or at special times of year(for example Hallowe’en). Such a large pitwas found at Cloghvalley and containedlots of animal bones and pottery.

EARLY MEDIEVAL BURIALS ATCLOUGHVALLEY UPPER

SKELETAL REMAINS BEING UNEARTHEDDURING EXCAVATIONS AT

CLOGHVALLEY UPPER PHOTOGRAPH SHOWING ONE SKULL ONTOP OF ANOTHER.THIS MAY HAVE BEENA MOTHER AND CHILD PLACED IN THESAME GRAVE.




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REMAINS FROM CLOUGHVALLEYUPPER

WHEN IS A GRAVE NOT AGRAVE? WHEN IT’S ATOMB!This is the skeleton of an adultmale aged between 17 to 38years old. The skeletal remainsare 75% complete, it is estimatedthat he would have been about180cm (5ft9ins) tall. This mandied around c. 600AD, cause ofdeath is unknown. Burial, as istypical for this period was in thetraditional Christian manner of

head to the west, feet to the east, lying onthe back. As can be seen from thereconstruction, the body was fully clothedand tightly wrapped in a burial shroud ofthe clan’s colours. The shroud would havebeen pinned down. We know this from theiron pins, which were found at the site.Some were buried with objects such as theknife also found at Cloughvalley Upper.

He was suffering from periodontal disease,which causes a reduction in the bonearound the teeth and eventually tooth loss.This would have been the result of poordental hygiene. As with most of the men

found at this site, he was also afflicted withdegenerative joint disease caused byconfirmed heavy lifting and hard labour.

There was also a large amount ofdisarticulated bone found with the remains,250 fragments in all. Analysis of the bonesindicated that they belonged to 2 otherpeople an older male and an older female.From this evidence we can see that thisgrave site was used at least twice beforeand the remains were simply pushed asideto make way for the new body. It is verylikely that these people were all related andthat the grave site was marked with somesort of upright headstone or wooden crossbut no evidence of any such markerremains.

There were no coffins in this period. Insteadthe grave itself became the coffin. Stoneswere placed around the body and thesewould have supported planks or branchesof wood. Sometimes these planks wereheld down by more stones. Sometimesthere would have been a stone to place thefeet upon. In this way the body wasrespectfully covered prior to the gravebeing covered with soil.

This knife would have been in its ownscabbard attached to a leather belt. Ironknives are commonly found in EarlyMedieval graves and represent part of thetradition of life to death continuity. This knifewould have been a treasured personalpossession and would have been used forevery purpose including eating food,shaping wood, butchering animals andscraping skins. It could even be used forfighting.

PICTURE OF SKELETON 13 – (ON DISPLAYIN EXHIBITION)

PERIODONTAL DISEASE

TAPEWORK

IRON KNIFE AND PINS FOUND AT CLOGHVALLEY UPPER




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Colonel Monke ended the 1641-7 Uprisingby attacking the Lisanisk crannógs atCarrickmacross on Friday 15th October,1647. Under fire from shot and artillery thelast rebels were forced to yield to superiorforce.

To take the islands on Lisanisk Lough itwould have been vital to obtain highground. The Lisanisk ringfort is the onlyplace where this advantage occurs.

Once this ringfort was taken, the crannógsin the lake were under attack from a height.In this situation they would have no hopeand must surrender. Evidence for the 1647battle of Lisanisk ringfort was perhapsfound in the shattered body of a mantossed into the ringfort ditch. The ditch wasprobably full of weeds as the corpse wasrolled in. It was then forgotten ordeliberately left.

A FALLEN REBEL AT LISANISK?

THE FORMATION OFMONAGHANCounty Monaghan was formed in 1585 from the five ancient baronies of Truagh, Dartrey,Monaghan, Cremorne and Farney. Farney (centred on Carrickmacross) was leased back tothe MacMahon family and in 1590 the MacMahons moved their headquarters to the maincrannóg on Lisanisk Lough.

Between 1628 and 1633 Carrickmacross was fortified with a castle, built by RobertDevereux, the third Earl of Essex.

THE DEMOLITION OFLISANISK RINGFORTAfter the 1691-92 Jacobite war the Lisanisk ringfort was deliberately flattened, causing theearlier body to be buried. The razing of the ringfort was dated by a coin and was probablyconnected with land re-distribution, following the dispersal of the MacMahon and thecreation of Lisanisk estate.

THE FALLEN REBEL AT LISANISK, DISCOVERED DURING THE EXCAVATIONS OF ONE OF THEDITCHES AT LISANISK RING FORT




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On the night of the 23rd October 1641rebels over ran the towns of Monaghan,Castleblayney and Carrickmacross, makingthe English garrisons prisoners. CollaMacBrian MacMahon of Lisanisk,Carrickmacross was the leader of theUprising in County Monaghan.

Robert Boyle Clerk, Vicar ofCarrickmacross stated that 30 or 40 rebels‘came in rebellious and tumultuous mannerto his house at the Church of Irelandrectory on Shercock Road and threatenedto break down the door if it were notopened. The rebels carried off one foulingpiece, one brass pistol, two rapier staves,one pipe staff, cattle, corn, books, clothes,etc. to great value’.

Carrickmacross castle, sited where theconvent now stands, was held by therebels for eleven months. In September,1642, Lord Lisle attacked it with two piecesof artillery. After a whole day'sbombardment much of the castle wasdestroyed and the garrison fled during thenight.

THEUPRISING




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NATIONALAround 3000 years after the end of the lastIce Age, the first people settled in Ireland.Mesolithic peoples formed semi-nomadichunter and gatherer tribes in the thickforests and along rivers and sea-shores. Asemi-permanent settlement is knownaround Mount Sandal, on the River Bann inCounty Derry.

INTERNATIONALCreation of the first towns and farming inthe ‘golden crescent’ of the Middle East(Palestine and Syria).

NATIONALFirst use of bronze tools and weapons, goldjewellry. Time of Burnt Mounds (FulachtaFia). Extensive, dispersed settlement ofsmall buildings and occasional large,defended sites and crannógs. Mostlyindividual burials, sometimes cremated.

INTERNATIONALInvention of the wheel. First Olympic Gamesare held. Birth of Buddha.

NATIONALViking Raids, Development of High Crossesand Round Towers, the first Irish towns anduse of coinage. Viking burials started off asnon-Christian, accompanied by armour andjewellry. Gradually they became moreChristian with fewer ‘grave-goods’.

INTERNATIONALReign of Charlemagne. Bayeux tapestrydepicting the Battle of Hastings

NATIONALGaelic wars. The Plantation of Ulster. Flightof the earls. 1641 – 7 Uprising. Battle of theBoyne 1691. Creation of Plantation townsand a rich land-owning class supported byan extensive peasantry. Burial formallyconfined to church graveyards.

INTERNATIONALSpanish Armada. Construction of the TajMahal

NATIONALFirst introduction of farming and pottery toIreland. Neolithic people often joinedtogether to build huge communalmonuments such as Megalithic Tombs as atNewgrange, Knowth and Dowth, Co Meath.These people lived on scattered settlementscut out of the wild forest using stone axes.Communal burial, usually by cremation.

INTERNATIONALConstruction of Stonehenge, construction ofthe Pyramids

NATIONALUse of iron for tools and weapons.Disappearance of settlement sites, potteryand the dead. Socially organized withpowerful warriors living in large ‘round-houses’ and controlling important ritual sitessuch as Navan Fort (Emain Macha), CountyArmagh and the Hill of Tara, County Meath.

INTERNATIONALBirth of Jesus Christ and rise of Christianity.The rise of the Roman Empire.

NATIONALIntroduction of Christianity to Ireland.Construction of ringforts and most of thecrannógs. Development of ecclesiastic siteseg. Clones, Co. Monaghan. Burial in theChristian manner of east to west (head tothe west), usually in family plots butsometimes in formal ecclesiasticcemeteries. Burials often accompanied byiron knives and combs.

INTERNATIONALThe fall of the Roman Empire. The birth ofIslam. The dark Ages in Europe.

NATIONALThe Anglo – Norman invasion. Developmentof Stone castles. Church Reform, medievalvillage landscape. Monaghan lies beyondthe main Anglo-Norman Lordshipthroughout most of this period. Burial ismostly confined to consecrated groundassociated with churches and chapels.

INTERNATIONALSpread of the Black Death. Invention of thePrinting Press. Christopher Columbustravels to America. The Reformation.

NATIONALPenal Laws. 1798 United IrishmenRebellion. 1801 Act of Union.Industrialisation begins. Massive increase inIrish rural population, based on the potato:the Great Famine and 19th century socialupheaval.

INTERNATIONALCaptain Cook travels to Australia. The Industrial Revolution. The FrenchRevolution.

Exhibition & Brochure: www.ph7.ieBronze Sculpture by Tony Murphy, entitled: Fallen Warrior No. II

Documents

MONAGHAN COUNTY MUSEUM IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE … · Almost all archaeological sites are lost. Those sites we know about are usually made with large stones, large walls or large