Warm spell results in more historical finds
THE recent heatwave has been of great significance to historians. All over the country, the warm weather has dried out the land and shown up some major historical finds, the most significant of which was a new monument at Newgrange, discovered at the peak of the summer.
Finds such as this inspired members of Ferns Heritage Archive Group to carry out a search of their own and it’s proved fruitful exposing a ringfort at Ballycarney and evidence of an early monastic site near Clone Church.
Local archaeologist Barry Lacey was inspired to undertake a survey of the spots after hearing of discoveries around the country, such as the major one at Newgrange.
‘I contacted photographer Dinny Kinsella from Carnew who has a drone,’ said Barry. In Ballycarney, they discovered the outline of what is known as a ‘Bivallete ringfort’ and you can see that the boundary of the field follows along one side of the ringfort.
‘The Bivallete forts are considered higher status,’ said Barry. ‘It’s a good location on the crest of the hill as it slopes down to the valley. We’ve logged the find with the National Monuments Service now and they’ve made a record of it to ensure it’s a protected site.’
The Ferns group is currently doing a lot of work at the ancient Clone church site and upon examining the area with the drone, Barry was delighted to discover what could be evidence of an early monastic settlement.
‘There are multiple linear and curved features and which extend into the neighbouring field,’ he explained. ‘These are likely the remains of dug features i.e. ditches or pits.
‘The most noticeable features in the field are the two parallel lines running adjacent to the church. They appear in the overgrowth from behind it and travel towards the road where they appear to curve and disappear.
‘Interestingly at this point the boundary between the road and field is also curved and may suggest it once formed part of the same feature.
‘This feature is likely a monastic enclosure, a common feature of early monasteries with a majority dating from before 800AD.
‘It’s exciting because the church ruins in Clone are from the 12th century and it has always be thought an early monastery associated with St. Aidan existed on the site and this discovery gives that theory much stronger credit.’