Feeding Medieval Carrickfergus: A Multi-proxy Study of Livestock Husbandry in a Frontier Town

Carrickfergus, located on the eastern coast of the north of Ireland, has been a town for over 800 years. Its rise to prominence started in AD 1177 when the Anglo-Norman adventurer John de Courcy commenced the construction of a major castle as part of his invasion strategy. Throughout the Anglo-Norman period it was a major military outpost, an urban settlement, and an ecclesiastical centre. By the mid-14th century the earldom of Ulster was in decline and the Anglo-Norman colony was forced to contract to Carrickfergus, its hinterland now controlled by the Gaelic lordship of the Clandeboye O'Neills. Carrickfergus continued to function, however, and remained in contact via sea-lanes other Anglo-Norman areas along the eastern coast of Ireland and remained under English control throughout the Late Medieval period. While subject to occasional O'Neill attack, it continued to be a major trading centre, through the Tudor Nine Years War (1594-1603) and the subsequent Plantation of Ulster (1610), to the early 18th century when it became eclipsed by Belfast.
Carrickfergus has been intensively excavated by archaeologists over the past 50 years. Collectively this work has yielded a substantial body of information about the town's castle, defences, craftworking and trading activities. The vibrancy of the port in the 17th century is attested through evidence of imported pottery from England and continental Europe. Substantial zooarchaeological collections recovered during the various excavations have yielded insights concerning the meat diet of the townsfolk across the Medieval period, while evidence for the consumption of dogs may attest to the difficulties of life within a frontier town. Despite this rich array of zooarchaeological evidence, however, no synthetic study has been made of the town's Medieval livestock economy. How did the townsfolk get the meat they consumed? Did the hostile nature of the hinterland mean they had to become self-sufficient, maintaining their own herds, despite its heavily contracted extent at times? Alternatively, was there a degree of cooperation with the Gaelic population living on the O'Neill lands surrounding the town?
The importance of Medieval Carrickfergus has meant the town has been well mapped and it boasts the earliest map of any town in Ulster, dating to AD 1560, as well as a RIA historic town atlas and these will enable an interrogation of the town's potential in terms of livestock husbandry. The mapping aspect of the project will also be extended to the adjacent uplands since recent archaeological survey and excavation has identified the existence of a previously unrecognised type of monument in the uplands of south Antrim a class of large sub-circular enclosures, with diameters up to about 100m, often with internal houses. Radiocarbon dating of such a site excavated at Slievenacloy, Co. Antrim, indicate its use during the Medieval period, while a parallel site excavated during the 1980s at Tildarg, Co. Antrim, dated to the 12-14th centuries. The identification of these monuments as upland cattle enclosures finds support in the historical sources; Clandeboye was known to be good cattle country with extensive grazing lands capable of feeding thousands of animals. Is it the case that the inhabitants of Carrickfergus were trading with local Gaelic cattle barons for their livestock?
The 1990s faunal reports used modern zooarchaeological approaches but earlier assemblages will be re-analysed and all zooarchaeological materials integrated. Samples of the main livestock species will be subject to multi-isotope analysis, sulphur, oxygen and strontium to determine their place of origin. This multi-proxy approach combining historical mapping, landscape survey, use of historical sources, zooarchaeology and multi-isotope analysis has the potential to provide a more nuanced understanding of the human-animal interactions that enabled the English town at Carrickfergus to operate within its Gaelic landscape.