Many discoveries made during community-led dig in Arney

The revelation was shared with the Arney community during a feedback event with Dr. Paul Logue (Historic Environment Division) and Jonathan Barkley (Northern Archaeology Consultancy) who presented their interpretation of the finds on Thursday, November 21 in Cleenish Millennium Hall, Arney. The Arney Fort dig was part of the ‘Cuilcagh to Cleenish (C2C) - A Great Place’ project delivered by Outdoor Recreation Northern Ireland in partnership with Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, through the resources of Marble Arch Caves UNESCO Global Geopark, Cleenish Community Association and Killesher Community Development Association.

“We had 75 local people turn up, some of who were volunteers on the dig and we had Northern Archaeology Consultants down to report back on the findings,” said Barney Devine, C2C Local Co-ordinator.

During the Arney Fort dig, the first community-led dig in Arney which took place from September 16 to 30, five trenches were hand excavated within the interior of Arney Fort and two on an annex adjacent to the monument. A metal detector survey was also carried out on the adjacent drumlin.

“The excavation was led by professional archaeologists with the excavation and recording carried out by local volunteers.

The excavation uncovered evidence for structures within the interior of the fort, along with material relating to iron working and glass production. Artefactual material recovered included a Neolithic end scraper, iron nails and coarse pottery, identified as Medieval Ulster Coarse Pottery.

Based on the results of the excavation, the fort has been tentatively dated to the 15th to 16th century. Finds uncovered during the metal detector survey of the drumlin included material dating to the post medieval period, notably a George III, 1805, Irish penny and the cock and jaws of a flintlock firearm with gunflint still attached.

“The findings, broadly speaking, are that it’s a high status dwelling on the Arney River, it’s in the style of the Anglo-Normans but it’s a Gaelicised Anglo-Norman site in that they were making iron, they were making glass, we found iron slag and we found glass slag, we also found lead but more importantly the design of this structure was such that it was in a figure of eight with a moat right the way around it with a wooden palisade on top of it,” shared Barney, explaining that there would have been dwellings inside the moat and as it was a high status site, there would have been a hall and drawbridge.

“There’s also a harbour next to it so we are not looking at Arney Fort, we are looking at Arney Port. That’s exciting,” he said, adding: “What we are pointing to now is that the direction of travel from Upper Lough Erne to Upper Lower Lough MacNean along the Arney was very clearly navigable which we know anyway from reports in the 1700s but we now have a site that has a harbour. There was traffic coming up and down the Arney by boat from Upper Lough Erne to Upper Lower Lough MacNean so that opens up the whole vista of how important that route was.”

Noting how he was “disappointed” because he thought they were going to make a Bronze Age discovery, Barney continued: “We found a piece of flint that was Neolithic which is 6,000 years old but that doesn’t mean it is a 6,000 year old site, it could have been found and brought in but we don’t have any bronze so it’s not a Bronze Age site, yet. We may get a second year out of this, if we do we will go deeper and see if we can get down to the Bronze Age but for now it’s 1400s.”

“Even though we are not going as far back as the Bronze Age, because of its location next to the Ford of the Biscuits, we do still think that it is an ancient routeway from Connaught into Ulster,” Barney added.

Barney explained that the archaeologists were “very pleased” because two firsts came from the dig.

He said: “It is the first time there’s been a dig on an Anglo-Norman moat site in Ireland.

So it’s the first time there has been a dig in this type of structure before and secondly, we found evidence of how they made the walls. There’s a technique called earth mortar where you mix mud, clay, sand and stones and it makes a very hard wall that you can build a two storey structure out of. So they found the way that they made them, that technique was opened up here and that was a first as well.”

When asked how the local community responded to the findings, Barney shared: “Fantastic, people didn’t realise that they had this in the community. They didn’t realise the Arney was such an important routeway and because hundreds of years had passed since the fort was active and occupied it’s just been forgotten about.”

He highlighted how over 320 locals came down to the site during the excavation.

“We had 50 volunteers, we had four local primary schools and 120 kids. The whole place was buzzing all the time and we got good weather so the whole thing was really excellent but there’s more to come,” Barney concluded.

Based on the results of the excavation, the fort has been tentatively dated to the 15th to 16th century. Finds uncovered during the metal detector survey of the drumlin included material dating to the post medieval period, notably a George III, 1805, Irish penny and the cock and jaws of a flintlock firearm with gunflint still attached.

"The findings, broadly speaking, are that it’s a high status dwelling on the Arney River, it’s in the style of the Anglo-Normans but it’s a Gaelicised Anglo-Norman site in that they were making iron, they were making glass, we found iron slag and we found glass slag, we also found lead but more importantly the design of this structure was such that it was in a figure of eight with a moat right the way around it with a wooden palisade on top of it," shared Barney, explaining that there would have been dwellings inside the moat and as it was a high status site, there would have been a hall and drawbridge.

"There's also a harbour next to it so we are not looking at Arney Fort, we are looking at Arney Port. That's exciting," he said, adding: "What we are pointing to now is that the direction of travel from Upper Lough Erne to Upper Lower Lough MacNean along the Arney was very clearly navigable which we know anyway from reports in the 1700s but we now have a site that has a harbour. There was traffic coming up and down the Arney by boat from Upper Lough Erne to Upper Lower Lough MacNean so that opens up the whole vista of how important that route was."

Noting how he was "disappointed" because he thought they were going to make a Bronze Age discovery, Barney continued: "We found a piece of flint that was Neolithic which is 6,000 years old but that doesn't mean it is a 6,000 year old site, it could have been found and brought in but we don't have any bronze so it's not a Bronze Age site, yet. We may get a second year out of this, if we do we will go deeper and see if we can get down to the Bronze Age but for now it's 1400s."

"Even though we are not going as far back as the Bronze Age, because of its location next to the Ford of the Biscuits, we do still think that it is an ancient routeway from Connaught into Ulster," Barney added.

Barney explained that the archaeologists were "very pleased" because two firsts came from the dig.

He said: "It is the first time there's been a dig on an Anglo-Norman moat site in Ireland. So it's the first time there has been a dig in this type of structure before and secondly, we found evidence of how they made the walls. There's a technique called earth mortar where you mix mud, clay, sand and stones and it makes a very hard wall that you can build a two storey structure out of. So they found the way that they made them, that technique was opened up here and that was a first as well."

When asked how the local community responded to the findings, Barney shared: "Fantastic, people didn't realise that they had this in the community. They didn't realise the Arney was such an important routeway and because hundreds of years had passed since the fort was active and occupied it's just been forgotten about."

He highlighted how over 320 locals came down to the site during the excavation.

"We had 50 volunteers, we had four local primary schools and 120 kids. The whole place was buzzing all the time and we got good weather so the whole thing was really excellent but there's more to come," Barney concluded.