EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Tyrone
Dunmisk, Co. Tyrone
Early Medieval Ecclesiastical Enclosure.
Grid Ref: H62787070 (26278/37070)
SMR No: TYR 036:001
Excavation Licence: N/A
Excavation Duration/Year: Summer 1984; Summer 1985; Summer 1986.
Site Directors: R.J. Ivens (Historic Monuments and Buildings Branch, Department of
the Environment (N.I.)).
The site consisted of a circular enclosure (approximately 40m in diameter) set on a hilltop.
Nearby quarrying threatened the site, and as such a substantial rescue excavation was
undertaken on both the enclosure and the surrounding hilltop, excavating around one quarter
of the entire area.
Although the site was known locally as a ‘fort’, excavation revealed that it may have been an
ecclesiastical enclosure, or possibly a settlement/cemetery (Fig. 274). 535 graves were
excavated, and at least ten of these revealed multiple inhumations. A number of skeletons
were able to be sexed, and these revealed 26 male and 27 female bodies; and over 40
juvenile skeletons were recovered, the majority of which (30) were of infants under ten years
old. The argument for the site having been a small monastic community (with an ancillary
mixed-sex workforce) is largely based on the discovery of a rectangular timber-built structure,
orientated roughly east-west (Fig. 275). The east end is demarcated by a foundation trench,
suggesting a rather substantial feature, whereas the remainder of the structure is outlined by
post-holes. A large number of the burials appear to have been aligned with this structure, and
some burials appear to have been placed within the structure prior to abandonment. It has
therefore been argued that this structure was a small church, and that the enclosure may be
equated with the lost monastic site of Domnach Mescáin (which could have been corrupted
over time to Dunmisk).
Apart from the early medieval graveyard, the site also shows substantial evidence for
industrial activity. The industrial area appears to have been set outside the original limits of
the graveyard, although both later and earlier graves have encroached into this area. Finds
from this area included fragments of several tuyères; large numbers of mould fragments; 145
sherds of crucibles; and large quantities of slag. Most significantly, six of the crucibles showed
evidence of having been used for glass-making (the first such evidence for native glass
manufacture found in Ireland). Fragments of thirteen separate glass items were also found in
this area. The remainder of the finds form site consisted of copper alloy pins (three); an
amber bead; part of a lignite bracelet; and two sherds of ‘flat-rim’ ware.
There is no definitive archaeological evidence for settlement on the hilltop, although it has
been suggested by a process of elimination that this may have occurred in the northwest part
of the site.
586