Excavation Findings

The 1994 archaeological excavation under the direction of Gerry Walsh and licenced by the National Monuments Service, commenced on August 2nd and was completed on September 16 , a period of seven weeks. A team of six including three archaeologists climbed to the summit each day.

The excavation was financed with funds raised locally by the Croagh Patrick Archaeological Committee, the local church and Mayo County Council who also provided the digging equipment. The area investigated was located approximately 25m east of the 1905 oratory, marked 1 in the photograph. Initial cuttings in this area revealed the walls of relatively recent stalls and some small finds recovered included some post 1940 coins and religious medals. Two metres further to the east a rectangular dry stone wall building, probably an oratory, was uncovered. This site is marked 3 in the photograph.

The dimensions of the building which was orientated east/west were 5.57 m east/west X 3.5 m north/south internally and 7.76 m east/west X 5.52 m north/south externally. The south and east walls show evidence of corbelling and would have curved into a corbelled stone roof. Corbels may be defined as stones laid projecting beyond their supports  to carry other corbels above them. The slight outward inclination of the bed joints of the stonework directs the rain always to the outside. These walls were built without the aid of mortar with stones carefully selected and ingeniously fitted together. The completed outline of the building from the outside would have been similar to that of an upturned boat. The only complete survivor of this group of small corbelled boat-shaped structures is Gallarus Oratory on the Dingle Peninsula in West County Kerry.