John Mc Cullen has very generously provided the team with a steady supply of reading material from his back catalogue. John has always believed that Beaubec is a special place and we are the fortunate people that are able to unearth its amazing story. Matt and Billy spent the day recording the sections and planning all the features in Cutting A(bbey Road). In its extension Cutting D(on’t let me down) Sadhbh, Ailish, Deirdre and Hugh have already exposed the section of stone wall identified in the geophysical survey. Penny volunteered (yes, volunteered!) to go back and work in the waterlogged ditch in Cutting B(eatles for sale) with her able assistant Cumhall. He and Craig had heroically emptied over 90 buckets of water from the ditch this morning. We had to say our good-byes to Elliott and Oliver today as they are heading back to Ohio in the morning (go Mud hens). They were a great help to the excavation. Thank you guys! – and to your mom Ruth for making the delicious banana muffins. In the afternoon Cutting C(an’t buy me love ) was attracting a great deal of attention as a large circular pit was uncovered by Alan and Tom in the centre of the Cutting (and probably near the centre of the building). This needs to be sectioned to see if it might be a large timber posthole and Billy provided a master class on how it should be done. Sean Collins and Pascal McGuffen came to the site and regaled us with stories of playing in tunnels in these fields as children. Larry Lacey (ancestor of Walter de Lacey and a sponsor of the Beaubec Excavations) also called down and gave us an interesting historical reference for the site from a book written by onetime Drogheda resident Colin Veach.
Oliver puts the finishing touches on the wall revealed in Cutting C(an’t buy me love). He, and his brother Oliver were a great asset to the excavation.
The oval pit was revealed by trowellers Tom and Alan.
Billy (left) introduces Tom and Alan to the niceties of pit sectioning.
Visitors to the site today included Sean Collins and Pascal McGuffen. This photo shows them examining finds in the finds processing office.
For generations on the McCullen farm, whenever there was a hole to be dug, a farm gate to be levered, or a stone to be wedged into place, the question has always been “what tool should we use for that job”. For generations the answer has always been “Mr Pokey”. Mr Pokey is a heavy Iron bar with a flat top for hammering and a chiselled end. It has proven to be an essential tool on the site and is particularly useful for straightening sections. The stone and brick filled pit in Cutting B(eatles for sale) could not have been emptied without his assistance. Thank you Mr Pokey. The photo shows Mr Pokey (right) with one of his ranging rod friends.
John McCullen presents Ailish with a copy of a leaflet he wrote on the antiquities of the Kilsharvan area. From left to right are: Deirdre, Billy, Ailish, John and Sadhbh.
Comhall and Craig emptied 90 buckets of water (that is 900 litres of water) out of the moat so that Penny could continue to investigate the deposits. Homeric!
The moat is about 0.80m deep and has perfectly preserved organic material in its bottom layer.
A close up of the kiln-like feature in A(bbey Road).
Beaubec Excavations 