- Early Christianity and its Monuments -
inner enclosure have revealed a substantial ditch, the first phase of which has been
radiocarbon-dated to between c. ad 180-560, filled in between the fifth and eighth
centuries and used as a tip for metalworking debris. Excavations since 1975 in the
supposed area of Patrick's church of na [erta (of the graves or grave-mounds)
have produced evidence for transient fifth-century activity (a charcoal/ash-filled pit),
followed by an early, apparently Christian, cemetery, with shallow burials in groups
laid in irregular rows, one grave appearing to be marked by a pair of wooden
uprights at its western end - possibly the 'cemetery of the martyrs' said to occupy
the site first used by Patrick. It is possible that there were pagan burials in the
vicinity, or that some Christian burials were originally marked by mounds/ditches in
pagan manner. It has been suggested that visible prehistoric monuments on the knoll
may have given the area an aura of sanctity, and provided an appropriate ritual focus
for the early ecclesiastical centre (the reuse of pre-Christian sites of long-standing
ritual use, such as the placing of burials or memorials on barrows, can be found
elsewhere). Craft industries - amber, glass, bronze and bone working -took place in
this area in the tenth century, with some evidence for masonry building before the
end of the Early Christian period. This evidence for craft activity is commonly found
on such sites, and latterly will have included those skilled in working stone.
At Clonmacnois, Co. Offaly, a low bank and ditch which runs for some 400 m to
the south of the present buildings and then runs for a similar distance at right angles
towards the river may represent an enclosure of uncertain age. Most of the present
buildings are eleventh/twelfth-century or later, but limited excavation has now
shed light on the early medieval site. Trenches inside the western perimeter wall of
the modern cemetery have uncovered early evidence of occupation in the form
of postholes for post-and-wattle houses (King 1992: 12-14). Above these lay the low
stone wall, hearth and clay floor for a round-house, with a path or gravelled surface
outside the house. An ogam stone found on the ground immediately outside its east
wall appears to have been reused as a sharpening stone. Two circular corn-drying
kilns were located to the south of the house, and evidence for other industrial activity
in the area included iron, bronze, gold and antler working. The finds indicate a
pre-eleventh-century date for this activity, much being seventh-ninth century.
The famous monastery of lona in Argyll (Figure 37.2, no. 3) shows interesting
parallels with similar sites in Ireland. Survey and excavation has revealed a complex
network of pre-Viking enclosures belonging to several phases. A large vallum, still
visible on the north and west of the site, enclosed an area of over 8 ha (20 acres,
comparable with Clonmacnois), the east side being either open or enclosed in a
different manner towards the sea. A smaller enclosure has been detected within the
larger one, on the northern side, while another smaller enclosure seems to have
enclosed the Reilig Odhrain, one of the cemeteries. One ditch close to the north of the
Reilig Odhrain was V-shaped, and peat deposits formed within it gave radiocarbon
dates of sixth-seventh centuries (Barber 1981). Some evidence for timber structures
has been uncovered: two possible circular buildings, and part of a rectangular struc-
ture made with sill beams or vertically set planking. One building which post-dated
an early seventh-century pit may have stood within a circular fenced enclosure (Royal
Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland 1982: 41).
Postholes and slots which may perpetuate an earlier structure were also found