Gortnacrannagh: An Ancient Place

N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge Road Project: Excavation of Gortnacrannagh 2 site.
The site lay adjacent to a rath on raised ground overlooking low lying poorly drained land to the south. The site was subjected to geophysical survey which indicated the presence of a strip field system and possible enclosure.
Excavations revealed a burnt spread with two troughs, two ringditches, a circular enclosure, inhumation cemetery, a relict field system, one possible ‘Roscommon pit’ and a set of cultivation furrows.
The enclosure, inhumation cemetery and one of the ringditches occupy the same space which helps our understanding of the site development and chronology. Finds range from Bronze Age stone tools to an Edward I silver penny.
Analysis is ongoing and it is anticipated that these remains and associated finds can be understood both in terms of the site development and in the broader archaeological landscape to help our understanding of ancestral burial ground development and the influence of Norman currency/trade in a traditional Gaelic area.
Gortnacrannagh 2 was excavated in advance of construction of the N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge Road Project in County Roscommon by AMS for Roscommon County Council and the TII.