Downpatrick dig uncovers medieval artefacts

The thing about digging for treasure is that you never know when you might find some.

But young Odhran Johnston struck lucky on his very first day volunteering at a special dig on the site of a former monastery at Down Cathedral.

"I was digging away trying to get it level, so it would look nice and clean," he said.

"But something in my body told me to stop because right where my trowel was I found this nearly complete Henry VIII coin."

For Brian Sloan of Queen's University's archaeology department, who organised the dig, this type of find in Downpatrick is exciting, but not surprising.

"It's tempting to think that this could have been one of his soldiers, sent here to tear the place down and didn't the poor sausage lose his wages?" he said.

Despite digging up a relatively small section of land, the team has found a wide range of artefacts and one of the original walls from the monastery.

"The tops of these walls are literally centimetres below the grass.

"We are basically de-sodding the area and are straight into medieval archaeology.

"We've found things like a medieval stick pin or brooch, a lot of pottery and a bone dice. It shows what the monks were getting up to.

"I couldn't possibly say if they were gambling - but they were definitely playing games."

Tailte McSparron, one of the volunteers at the dig, said the experience has inspired her to pursue archaeology as a career.

"Definitely in two years time I want to study archaeology," she said.

"Just there now I found some copper slag which is a new type we've found like melted iron ore which would have been found in forges.

"I've also found lots of pottery and animal bone."

This is the second year of the dig. Last year 14 medieval skeletons were found and a huge new cross has been erected on that site.

Dean of the Cathedral, Henry Hull, said more is being learned about those people and how they lost their lives.

"Our plan is to reinter them," he said.

"At the minute, the archaeologists are studying them so we can learn more about the people we found.

"One of the remains was that of a 16-year-old girl who died quite a painful death.

"It's thought that she may have been cared for at the monastery.

"In those days monastic settlements would have been the equivalent of a hospital where they cared for people."

With the dig now over, the trenches will be filled in to protect the structures underneath.

It is hoped some day funding will be made available that would allow them to be put on permanent display. Until then the artefacts such as the brooch, coin and dice will go on display in the nearby Down Museum.