Archaeological Features

Photograph of Abbeyderg Monastery

Photograph of Abbeyderg Monastery taken by Jimmy Lennon

Photograph of Abbeyderg Monastery

Photograph of Abbeyderg Monastery

Photograph of Abbeyderg Monastery taken by Jimmy Lennon

Enlarge image

Sheela-na-Gig at Rathcline Graveyard

Photograph of Sheela-na-Gig at Rathcline Graveyard taken by Jimmy Lennon

Copyright managed by the Library Council

Sheela-na-Gig at Rathcline Graveyard
Copyright managed by the Library Council

Sheela-na-Gig at Rathcline Graveyard

Photograph of Sheela-na-Gig at Rathcline Graveyard taken by Jimmy Lennon

Copyright managed by the Library Council

Enlarge image

Introduction

Some of the most impressive reminders of the earliest inhabitants of Ireland are burial places from the 'Neolithic' or New Stone Age (c. 4000-1700 B.C.). The earliest type of these megalithic tombs is the court cairn or court tomb, consisting of a chamber or chambers with a 'fore court' at the entrance. The chambers were generally covered over. Such tombs are almost all found north of a line from Dundalk to Galway, so the one at Abbeyderg is unusual for being so far south.
 

Another well-known megalithic tomb type is the portal dolmen. It has three standing stones with a flat stone on top, often at an angle. The parish of Colmcille has two such tombs – in the neighbouring townlands of Aughnacliffe (the larger one) and Cleenrath (the smaller).
 

Surely, Longford's most unusual ancient site is the Iron Age trackway at Corlea near Kenagh. Dating from 148 B.C., it is the largest and most impressive of many toghers or bog trackways found in that area, and one of the largest known in Europe. There is general agreement that it was not built for practical use, but its purpose remains unclear. Perhaps, it was built for ceremonial or religious reasons?
 

One of the more unusual and controversial archaeological features is the sheela-na-gig, consisting of a female figure exposing her genitalia. There is one clear specimen in Longford and that is on the ruined Rathcline Church, near Lanesborough, believed to date from c. 1200.

Photograph of a typical ringfort

Photograph of a typical ringfort taken by Jimmy Lennon

Photograph of a typical ringfort

Photograph of a typical ringfort

Photograph of a typical ringfort taken by Jimmy Lennon

Enlarge image

When the Anglo-Normans arrived in the late twelfth century, they introduced the 'motte and bailey' as a defensive structure. The motte was a mound created from the digging of a ditch or fosse. A wooden tower was then built on top of the motte. The bailey was the area at the base of the motte, surrounded by the ditch and fence, in which servants and others would have lived.


The most famous motte in Longford is at Granard – the 'moat' as it is referred to locally. Built c. 1200 by Richard Tuite, it was one of the defensive positions on the western border of the Norman lordship of Meath.
 

The most common archaeological feature from the pre- and early Christian periods found on the Irish landscape is the ring fort or 'fairy fort'. Archaeologists now tend to describe those as enclosures. They were dwelling-places surrounded by earthen banks or sometimes, stone walls (in which case they were called 'caiseals') and it has been argued that many remained inhabited until the middle ages. The ringfort at Breaney, near Ardagh, is a particularly fine example, having three sets of banks.