The Maree Project is your chance to join the excavation of a high-status (maybe even royal!) settlement, just south of Galway on the Wild Atlantic Way of Ireland. Named ‘Rathgurreen’, the site is a type of ‘ringfort’ and is of interest to archaeologists as it is more than twice the size of the typical ringfort in Ireland.
The site is located on the Maree peninsula, the subject of a major new research project. The area around Rathgurreen is rich in archaeological remains dating as far back as the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age, 8000 – 4000 BC). This area of Ireland has had a high concentration of human activity over a long period of time, and the project aims to explore land use through all of these periods. Rathgurreen is the first excavation target of many sites on the peninsula.
The Maree Project is your chance to join the excavation of a high-status (maybe even royal!) settlement, just south of Galway on the Wild Atlantic Way of Ireland. Named ‘Rathgurreen’, the site is a type of ‘ringfort’ and is of interest to archaeologists as it is more than twice the size of the typical ringfort in Ireland.
The site is located on the Maree peninsula, the subject of a major new research project. The area around Rathgurreen is rich in archaeological remains dating as far back as the Mesolithic (Iron Age 8000 – 4000 BC). This area of Ireland has had a high concentration of human activity over a long period of time, and the project aims to explore land use through all of these periods. Rathgurreen is the first excavation target of many sites on the peninsula.
Rathgurreen was partially excavated in the 1940s and, at that time, archaeologists unearthed some tantalizing artifacts including a Roman oil lamp and French pottery. This suggests that high-status residents lived at this location.
At the moment, the earliest known activity at Rathgurreen ringfort dates to 374-601AD, with seemingly continuous use up until about 1100 AD. The settlement began life as a large-diameter univallate enclosure (surrounded by a single earthen bank and ditch). It was then transformed by creating an additional large bank and ditch inside the earlier versions – a very unusual feature. The modern excavations will test the results of the 1940s, and add to our understanding of the monument and its people.
Maree features in Irish mythology and early history. Variations of the name – Mearuidhe/ Meadhraighe/Medrigia – are mentioned in early Irish texts in both fictional and factual sources. In recorded history, Maree is in the ancient territory of a people called Uí Fiachrach Aidhne. They held the provincial kingship of Connacht from 515 AD to 694 AD and ruled the Maree area for centuries. Recorded history shows they had some interactions with the Vikings – and not of a friendly nature!