EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Tyrone
Clogher (Clogher Demesne td.), Co. Tyrone
Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure.
Grid Ref: H53875133 (25387/35133)
SMR No: TYR 058:033
Excavation Licence: N/A
Excavation Duration/Year: 1969; 1971; 1972; 1973; 1974; 1975.
Site Directors: R.B. Warner (Ulster Museum).
Research excavations were undertaken over a number of seasons on the hilltop fort at
Clogher, Co. Tyrone. The site is located to the rear of the modern cathedral, and had long
been assumed to be the royal site of the Airghialla tribes of mid-Ulster. An early medieval
enclosure had been set within the banks of the earlier hillfort which showed evidence for an
Iron Age construction/occupation (Fig. 273).
Excavations through the bank, and interior, of the internal enclosure revealed a multiplicity of
phases and features. The earliest internal enclosure would appear to have been delimited by
a palisade trench, 30m in diameter, with an associated wide external ditch. A low external
bank beyond the ditch may have been timber-framed and also may show evidence for
another external palisade. A rim sherd of a small amphora found from this phase of
occupation suggests that the site had prestigious, international contacts. The artefactual
remains suggest that this enclosure was still in use by the mid-sixth century – a sherd of Late
Roman Amphora (B ware), and a D type penannular brooch (after Kilbride-Jones), was found
in the upper fill of the ditch. Large quantities of fragments of penannular brooches, and a
late-Roman bronze bracelet, have been interpreted as evidence for a brooch factory. Part of
the hilltop fort ditch appears to have been re-used during this phase as an area for iron
smelting, and at least two furnaces were found from this period, and others were implied
from the excavation.
A large dump bank was then created outside the ambit of the earlier ditch which was in-filled
with yellow clay (the ‘Clogher Yellow Layer’). The material for this appears to have been
obtained from a deep outer ditch which now defined an enclosure with an internal diameter
of approximately 50m. Sherds of E ware sealed by this bank suggest a sixth/mid-seventhcentury
construction date. Connections with contemporary continental Europe may also be
indicated by the discovery of two iron bull-head mounts (originally believed to be from a
Belgic ‘fire-dog’ of earlier date, but now interpreted as belonging to a standard), as well as an
iron spearhead of Gaulish form.
A possible rectangular building of post-and-slot construction was found within the interior of
this enclosure; and a huge circular building (40m across) has been interpreted as the rígtech,
or royal house. There was evidence for bronze-working within the enclosure, and iron- and
glass-working were conducted inside the hilltop fort, but outside the enclosure. The
construction of the ‘inauguration mound’ would appear to date to this phase of occupation,
and excavations on it discovered the presence of a small circular wooden ‘hut’ on its summit.
Several phases of roads were uncovered during the excavations – a bronze ‘button’ in the
shape of a beetle was found in the earliest one - including a cobbled entranceway. The
gateway into the enclosure would originally appear to have been set into a six-post wooden
tower. This would appear to be an original feature since the earliest of the wooden gateposts
were recovered from the entrance were associated with sherds of E ware.
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