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An aerial
view of excavations at the medieval ringfort at Ranelagh near Roscommon Town.
Picture: Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd
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The recent discovery outside
Roscommon Town of a Medieval ringfort that included a jewellery workshop,
evidence of extensive farming and a cemetery containing almost 800 bodies, has
provided a window into our past. A year-long excavation of the site has
provided a picture of the settlement that was probably occupied between the
sixth and 11th centuries. It is thought that in its later years it may have
served as an administrative and industrial hub for a community living in a
series of ringforts in the surrounding area.
There was no evidence on any maps
or in local folklore to suggest the existence of a ringfort and cemetery before
the site was examined by archaeologists. The ringfort may have been levelled by
centuries of ploughing for agriculture, or cleared during the landscaping of an
area of parkland for the nearby Ranelagh House in the early 1700s. The main
enclosure continued to be used for burials and appears to have been occupied
during early Christianity period. A monastery was founded in Roscommon by St
Comán in the early sixth century and had become quite important by the eighth
century.
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Reconstruction
of a ringfort at Curraheen, Co Cork, the kind of enclosure that would have been
first built at the ringfort in Ranelagh, Co Roscommon. Picture: Courtesy of
Transport Infrastructure Ireland
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Ringforts are Ireland’s most
common field monument, with about 45,000 recorded examples. Recent
archaeological evidence suggests that they may have fulfilled a variety of
functions such as craftmanship and manufacture, as evidenced by the presence of
furnaces. Archaeologists believe that all ringforts in a region were probably
occupied at the same time. Should one ringfort be attacked, help would possibly
come from a neighbouring one.
Our current understanding of
these structures is that they date to the Early Medieval Period, with a peak in
construction between AD 600 and AD 900. They represent the enclosed homesteads
of the upper echelons of Irish Early Medieval society.
According to Transport
Infrastructure Ireland (TII) project archaeologist Martin Jones, overseeing the
work as part of a road realignment on the N61, there were at least three other
ringforts within 500 metres. It is thought that this ringfort was originally
inhabited by a family that rose in prominence in the area. They may have then
constructed a number of other ringforts around this one, which became a centre
for industrial activity.
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| Amber Necklace from Lough Gara, County Sligo dated from 800-700 BC |
The amount of unfinished
jewellery pieces found by the archaeologists indicates they were being made in
a workshop at the site. The jewellery items found include amber and jet beads,
a lignite bracelet, and a brooch panel with enamel stud. A fragment of a copper
alloy bracelet has been dated by its decoration to around AD350 to 550. A
necklace of amber beads and lignite bracelets were found during the excavation
of crannog sites on Lough Gara, County Sligo.
The substantial number of bones
found across the site point to a move from human settlement to raising and
slaughtering animals. The discovery of a set of iron shears of different sizes
indicates processing of animal wools.
The remains of 793 people were
found of which three-quarters were intact. Archaeologists believe that several
of the 470 juveniles and infants whose remains were unearthed may have been
placed there during the later use of the site as a children’s burial ground. A
small number of crouched burials were found, with their knees pushed up to
their chest, which may suggest that these were non-locals being buried
according to their own traditions. Other burials showed signs of punishment or
disrespect, including at least two in which feet and hands may have been bound,
one of them buried face down. Two of those buried at the Ranelagh excavation
site were decapitated, and several children or adolescents were placed in the
ground in embracing positions.
The custom of setting apart a
special place for the burial of very young or unbaptised children was common
practice from early medieval times until very recently. Many of these are
situated in forts or early ecclesiastical sites.
In the fifth century AD,
Augustine of Hippo declared that all unbaptised people were guilty of original
sin. This prompted a debate in the Church which was to last for several
centuries. From the sixth century, the burial of unbaptised individuals in
consecrated ground was forbidden. In 2004, Pope John Paul 11 appointed a
Commission to study Limbo and it reported its findings in 2007. The report,
signed by Pope Benedict XV1, stated that it reflected a ‘restrictive view of
salvation’ and that it was reasonable to hope that the souls of unbaptised
infants are admitted to Heaven by a merciful God.
Although children’s burial
grounds are normally associated with stillborn and unbaptised children, others
were buried there including people who committed suicide, mentally disabled,
the shipwrecked, criminals, famine victims, strangers and even women who had
not been ‘churched’ after childbirth.
A notable feature in some of
graves in the burial ground excavated was the placement of items with the body.
The artefacts were frequently hidden under the hair and included beads, blades,
a bracelet fragment, and copper and bone pins. This may have been a hangover
from pre-Christian burial practices. One young adolescent was buried with a
worked antler, one of a handful of such burials recorded in Ireland.
Scholars believe that the nature
of the Celtic religion itself helped in the development of Christianity. For
example, a belief in the indestructibility of the souls of the dead helped in
understanding the resurrection of Christ.
Some non-Christian funerary
customs continued to be practiced, including burial in cemeteries not obviously
associated with a church. Burned grain, antler tine and pig bones have been
found in pre-Christian graves signifying some form of rite. Christian
cemeteries or ‘holy ground’, in which most of the population were buried,
developed from the late seventh century onwards.
For further
information about ringforts and childrens’ burial grounds see:
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