A Neolithic house on the crown of a gravel hill near Cookstown is the focus of a settlement 60 metres wide where pits, hearths, post- and stakeholes have been examined. The house is a 6.5 x 6 metre rectangle defined by postholes and two parallel trenches which had contained thin oak planks set upright.

A final report on the archaeological excavation of an Early Neolithic house and three Bronze Age pits at Barnagore, Ballincollig, Co. Cork. Unpublished report for Archaeological Consultancy Services Limited on behalf of Cork County Council.Google Scholar

In Ballynagilly, near Cookstown, Co. Tyrone the remains of a wooden house were found dating to the Neolithic Times c 3215 bc. It was situated on the top of a hill about 200 metres high. The house measured 6.5 metres by 6 metres, it was orientated from east to west.

Gradually farming, together with permanent settlements, pottery making and new tools for harvesting and processing grain spread across Europe – reaching Ireland nearly 5000 years later. “Our first record of neolithic activity is at Ballynagilly …

The Neolithic-Bronze Age occupation site at Ballynagilly was covered by blanket peat and surrounded by a deep mire. Stratigraphic investigations, pollen analysis and 14 C dating were used to investigate the history of the area and to relate this to the prehistoric occupations.

In 1969, at Ballynagilly in County Tyrone, the remains of one of these new houses were discovered. It was rectangular in shape and measured six meters by six and a half meters. It had wattle and daub walls supported by oak uprights and substantial posts supported a thatch roof.

There are some exceptionally large houses, such as Cloghers, Tankardstown 2 and Ballyharry 1 (phase 1). These have length:width ratios of up to and over 2:1. The Tankardstown building has a central compartment of over 58 sq. m.

Using only the best quality radiocarbon dates it is possible to refine the dating of the appearance of the rectangular Neolithic house in Ireland. Neolithic Houses can be shown to have appeared sometime between 3715 and 3650BC and apparently disappeared only a short time after their appearance between 3690 and 3625BC.

Locations, chronology and references for sites with recorded plant remains from Neolithic Ireland; see also the Cultivating Societies project website (Cultivating Societies n.d.) to access a version of the archaeobotanical database.

The Neolithic-Bronze Age occupation site at Ballynagilly was covered by blanket peat and surrounded by a deep mire. Stratigraphic investigations, pollen analysis and 14 C dating were used to investigate the history of the area and to relate this to the prehistoric occupations.