Local archaeological society enjoys successful trip

By Christy Lawless

MAYO Historical and Archaeological Society visited sites in the Tourmakeady, Killateeaun, Finny and Clonbur areas on their annual field trip recently.

The fine weather added to the enjoyment of the day. The trip was organised by Noel O’Neill (chairman) and Gearóidín Ni Ghrúinéil (society secretary). The guide for the field trip was the well known archaeologist Michael Gibbons. The members were treated to a feast of information by Michael at all the sites.

The first site visited was the splendid fine piece of architecture of the Tourmakeady Church of Ireland. The Church is roofless and stands on an elevated hillside site which overlooks Tourmakeady village. It was designed by Joseph Welland in 1851 and was built in 1852 for Rev. Thomas Plunket, Church of Ireland Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry. The Bishop owned a 14,000 acre estate in the Tourmakeady area. He purchased the Tourmakeady part of the Moore of Moorehall estate in 1854 and part of the Lynch Blosse estate in 1859. He moved to live on his estate in Tourmakeady.

He is best remembered for evicting many catholic families on his estate for not sending their children to the Protestant schools that he had set up. This brought him into conflict with the Catholic Clergy, Fr Ward, Fr Conway and the very progressive and powerful Fr Lavelle. The Rev. Thomas Plunket was Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry from 1839 until his death in 1866.

He is buried on a prominent site in front of the Church he built in Tourmakeady in 1852. His grave is marked by cast iron railings with a large apex shaped red sandstone tombstone over the grave. The inscription on the tombstone reads, ‘Thomas Baron Plunket Lord Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry, Died 19th October 1866’. A magnificent High Celtic Cross embellished with Celtic design stands at the head of the grave.

Tourmakeady Church of Ireland closed in 1959 and was Deconsecrated in 1961.

The second site visited was a Wedge Tomb in the townland of Cappanacreha in the vicinity of Derrypark. The landowner Sean Casey led the way to the Wedge Tomb on his land. Archaeologist Michael Gibbons pointed out the construction of the wedged shaped chamber tomb with its large sandstone capstone. It is estimated that there are around 400 Wedge Tombs in Ireland. Three discrete

Cup Marks on the capstone were pointed out; they are associated with Bronze Age symbols and associated with cup and ring marks on rock outcrops.

Wedge Tombs were used for the burial of cremated remains and date to the late Neolithic and into the Bronze Age 2500 to 2000BC.

One of the large loose sandstone in the tomb was worked on to make a millstone but after some work it was obviously deemed to be unsuitable and the work was abandoned. From the tomb on its hillock site there is a view of Lough Mask to its East.

Along the scenic route from Derrypark to Maamtrasna and on to the hillside road overlooking Lough Na Fooey we reached the Ritual Site or Holy Stone in An Cummer. This is a small Ritual Stone with an indentation of a footprint. The stone is surrounded by loose stone piled around it on its sloping site. It is known locally as St Patrick’s footprint. In the indented footprint in the stone there are offerings which include coins, rosary beads and religious medallions.

A long trek up the Cummer hills brought members to Michael Gibbons own discovery, a Hilltop Enclosure. This is a very large subrectangular enclosure 80 metres N-S and 60 metres E-W. It occupies elevated ground of rock outcrops and a small number of cultivation ridge patches. The enclosing wall of the enclosure is much denuded of its stone. The stone was used for the building of stonewall field fences in the vicinity of the enclosure in more modern times. This is an archaeological site of great antiquity and may have it origins in Bronze Age or Neolithic times.

The last stop of the day was to a Court Tomb in the townland of Cregdotia. It is situated 3.50 km from Clonbur on the Cong road. It was a difficult trek through the 130 metres of forestry, hazel wood and a climb to the limestone plateau where it is located. The tomb consists of 2 chambers with misplaced capstones surrounded by stones that once formed its cairn.

The members enjoyed a very successful archaeological field trip.