Ancient Stone Monuments of South Armagh by Brian Mcelherron
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Ancient Stone Monuments of S Armagh_Layout 1 23/10/2013 10:14 Page 1 POYNTZPASS AND DISTRICT LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY 23 ANCIENT STONE MONUMENTS OF SOUTH ARMAGH BY BRIAN MCELHERRON n 2009, during work to up-grade the A1 south of A fulachta fiah is generally found in a low-lying area, close Loughbrickland, several sites of great archaeological to a stream or water source, or in a place where there was importance were discovered. The remains of a water-logged soil. First a hole was dug in the ground and INeolithic settlement were uncovered just south of filled with water. Next a fire was lit nearby and cobble- Loughbrickland, dating back 6,500 years, and a Bronze sized stones placed in the fire until they were red hot. The Age burial ground was discovered at Beech Hill. stones were then rolled into the water in the hole till Archaeologists described these finds as of the greatest eventually the water was brought to the boil. Meat was significance, as they cast light on the lifestyle of these placed in the boiling water and cooked, the water being early people. kept boiling by the addition of more hot stones from time to time. In March 2012, during work in clearing the route of a new water-main, a prehistoric site was discovered in the The archaeologists working in Aghantaraghan suggest a townland of Aghantaraghan just south of Poyntzpass. date of around 1500-2000 BC as the period when the The site, described as ‘a fire-mound’, was in a field site was in use. The extent of the area of fire-blackened owned by Thomas McVeigh close to the main Newry earth suggested that the site was used over a considerable Road and, while it is of much less significance than those period of time, which, in turn, implied that there was a associated with the A1, it was a further reminder that our settlement of some kind here for a while. However, as island has been inhabited for many thousands of years any shelters erected by these people would probably have and that our neighbourhood has been home to countless been very simple constructions of branches, thatch or generations who have lived here before us. animal skins and, bearing in mind too that the area uncovered in the excavation here was quite small, no The first evidence of early human activity found in trace of any dwelling was found. Aghantaraghan was the discovery, when the topsoil had been removed, of an area of fire-blackened soil. Sometimes flint tools or implements are found at these Archaeologists were called and, having inspected the site, sites but none was discovered here. Animal bones are declared the site to be prehistoric and of some often found on similar sites but in this case again nothing archaeological interest. In due course a pile of stones was was discovered. This has led the archaeologist to uncovered which confirmed that this was what is known speculate that this was a ritual site of some kind, used on in Ireland as a ‘fulachta fiah’ or primitive cooking place. special occasions - as opposed to a domestic one used by a family or small group - and that whatever was cooked These discoveries are relatively common in Ireland and, here was consumed elsewhere. while there is some debate about their function, it is generally accepted that they were used for cooking meat. The dig uncovered a ‘cooking-hole’ close to the ‘fire- mound’. It was roughly oval or circular in shape about four or five feet in diameter and up to three feet deep. It was capable of holding quite a large joint of meat or even a whole animal, such as a small wild boar. This again would suggest that the cooking done here was for a sizeable community rather than a small family-group. Also uncovered near the fire mound was an area roughly ‘paved’ with stones, the purpose of which is not known, and two larger stones which could conceivably have been used as primitive seats. By the time suggested by the archaeologists the people who constructed and used this site were more settled than the hunters and gatherers of an earlier time and while they may still have hunted and gathered, they were probably also involved in primitive farming. They may Excavation of the site in Aghantaraghan Ancient Stone Monuments of S Armagh_Layout 1 23/10/2013 10:14 Page 2 24 POYNTZPASS AND DISTRICT LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY NEWRY Newtownhamilton Camlough A25 A29 Belleek Camlough A1 B30 Mountain B134 Camlough Lake A29 Slieve B135 Gullion Lislea Forest Park Ballymacdermott Court Tomb Ballykeel Portal Tomb Cullyhanna A1 Slieve Gullion B134 Meigh A29 Passage Tomb B135 B30 Annaghmare CourtTomb Clontygora Court Tomb Dromintee B135 B30 Silverbridge B113 N A29 A1 Crossmaglen Forkhill A34 10 Miles have had some knowledge of basic pottery for, although monuments dating from early times and examples of no fragments of pots have been found at the site in them are to be found on our own doorstep in South Aghantaraghan, pieces of primitive pottery have been Armagh. found at similar sites elsewhere. These pots would have been small and would have been used for storage and to About 10,000 years ago the last Ice Age had ended and carry water from a nearby source to fill the cooking the island of Ireland had more or less separated from hole. Animal-skin ‘buckets’ might also have been used its larger eastern neighbour. By about 6,000 BC for this purpose. Mesolithic people had arrived on the island. Many of these came from the north by island hopping from what Drainage in the vicinity of the site has certainly been is now Scotland but there is evidence that some came greatly altered over the years, particularly by the by the longer sea route from mainland Europe to the construction of the main road close by. However a small southern coast of Ireland. These people found a land stream still flows through a culvert under the road covered with forest but rich in wild foods such as nuts within 15 yards of the site and in times past may have and berries, with many small mammals such as stoat, been considerably bigger and much closer to the fire hare and badger. The rivers were teeming with fish. mound. This was a potential water supply. These nomadic hunter-gatherers used stone tools. Excavations have shown that they lived in small While the prehistoric remains at Loughbrickland and temporary round huts and examination of some of Aghantaraghan lay hidden for thousands of years, not their middens gives us good clues as to their diets and all traces of these early ancestors are so hard to find. lives. However, they built no permanent structures and All over Ireland are examples of great stone we know little of their religious and burial practices. Palaeolithic Mesolithic Neolithic Old Stone Age Middle Stone Age New Stone Age Bronze Age Iron Age 3,000,000 12,000 4,000 2,500 1,000 500 B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. Approximate Timeline of the Historic Ages Ancient Stone Monuments of S Armagh_Layout 1 23/10/2013 10:14 Page 3 POYNTZPASS AND DISTRICT LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY 25 About 3,500 BC the first farmers started to arrive from The cairn is wider at the north end than at the south; Europe. These Neolithic people formed larger, more its shape is usually referred to as trapezoidal. In the permanent settlements. They were no longer nomads early days of modern archaeology archaeologists but now grew crops and kept domesticated animals. usually called these structures Ulster Horned Cairns They hunted and gathered as well to supplement their because that was the site of most of the explored tombs. food supply. The detritus found at excavated Neolithic The majority of them had an open court with two sites tells us much about these early farmers. No curved arms or ‘horns’ and many had a partial covering complete dwellings have been found but the uncovered of a cairn of small stones. In further discoveries and stone foundations of houses show that Neolithic people surveys it became clear that many existed outside the lived in much larger buildings than Mesolithic people. province of Ulster, some with full circular courts or Most of the surviving stone structures relate to burials. centre courts. A few examples had lost their cairns with Throughout Ireland the remains of about 1500 only the large structural stones remaining. There are a Neolithic (c. 3500 – 1500 BC) stone tombs have been few cases where the court is missing and only the gallery found. The more complete examples have been remains. In some cases only the court remains. All these classified into four main types: Court Tombs, Portal monuments are now known as Court Tombs and they Tombs, Passage Tombs and Wedge Tombs. Examples are found in the northern half of the island with the most of the first three types can be found in South Armagh. southerly example being at Shanballyedmund in Tipperary North. If you travel south from Camlough village along the Keggall Road you will come to Murray’s Corner. Here is a sign pointing eastward to Ballymacdermot Court Tomb. Ballymacdermot Court tomb The court at Ballymacdermot is built of large stones placed close together, with the maximum height being about 1m. However, the original ground level of the court may have been much lower and the true height of the stones is masked. In some court tombs the court stones may be about 2m.