Your cart is empty

Research and Excavations


The landscape of Slievemore Mountain, at 2,214 feet (671 metres), the highest mountain on Achill Island has long attracted human settlement. Neolithic activity going back over 5000 years is demonstrated by the remains of a series megalithic tombs situated on the southern and eastern slopes of Slievemore in the townlands of Dugort West, and Keel East. Division of the landscape and possible agricultural activity during the Neolithic or Bronze Age can be traced on the slopes of the mountain in the form of a collection of curvilinear field walls, some of which extend nearly as high as the western ridge of the mountain. Other field walls interspersed with modern examples in the Deserted Village may date to the medieval period whilst ‘the green road’ in the valley bottom probably represents an old ‘drove way’. Towards the western end of the mountain, a series of platforms, some containing substantial stone roundhouses seem to be of Bronze Age date, a radiocarbon sample from a floor in Round House 1 produced a date in the Middle Bronze Age but a second underlying floor containing a hearth, post holes and stake holes is probably much earlier. The layout of the structure suggests ritual rather than domestic usage. Slievemore graveyard contains the remains of a building, supposedly a church, a number of equal-armed crosses and a holy well, dedicated to St. Colmán that probably date to the 7th to 9th centuries A.D. Downslope from the prehistoric remains is the Deserted Village of Slievemore, a settlement of some 84 houses and field walls remaining out of an original 135. The houses are divided into three distinct groups, spread over an area of c.2km² along the 200 ft (70 metre) contour on the southern slopes of Slievemore and represent the latest phase of settlement on the mountain.		The houses are of dry stone construction, rectangular plan and gabled roof, originally covered by rye thatch. The haunting and evocative remains of the houses are a monument to a traumatic period in the island’s history that is being slowly uncovered by archaeological investigation and documentary research. Folklore associated with the village revolves around the ‘booley phase’ of seasonal livestock herding that took place subsequent to abandonment of the village in the mid nineteenth century. Excavations at a number of houses in the village indicate a settlement history extending back to the mid-18th century A.D. but a recently discovered roadway underlying the 19th century road may yet provide information on earlier settlement and village layout. An orthostatic stone wall north of House #23 divides a series of lazy bed cultivation ridges; east of the wall they run from north to south and from east to west to the west of the wall, indicating a change in agricultural practice. Ceramics recovered from the excavations is largely confined to refined earthenware with a limited number of coarse earthenware, possibly indicating that other materials such as wood and metal may have been in use for dairying and other domestic purposes. Over half of the ceramic collection consists of the more expensive decorated wares encompassing a wide variety of decorative techniques, patterns, designs and colours within each type. Other artefacts recovered include horseshoes and the remains of agricultural implements.



In 1991, the Deserted Village project was set up with the stated aim of carrying out a detailed survey of the archaeological remains on Slievemore Mountain, the highest mountain on Achill Island, together with excavation of selected houses and other archaeological features within the village/s. Read more>		Deserted Village Excavations 2008 Read more>

In 2008 the Field School excavated a house platform above the Deserted Village. Excavations revealed a substantial, stone built, circular structure thought to date from the Early or Middle Bronze Age. Read more>		Excavations for 2009 Read more>

Achill Archaeological Field School
SCOIL SEANDÁLÚIL ACLA