EARLY MEDIEVAL Meathmen ate corncrakes, now Ireland's most endangered species, according to archaeologists who have completed their excavation of a site at Raytown.
The bones of the bird (Crex crex), were found when excavations were carried out along the route of the N2 motorway which found the bones of traditional farm animals used for food. The traditional farm animals, cattle, sheep and pig, dominated on the sites with lesser quantities of horse, dog and cat bones, according to a report in the current edition of Archaeology Ireland.
"Some of the less common species, however, were also found amongst the usual suspects. At the early medieval settlement of Raytown, the largest collection of bird bones (44) were of corncrakes," said the report. It said these dated from between AD500 and 800, and while isolated bones of corncrakes had been found on other archaeological sites in Ireland, there was no known instance where they comprised the dominant bird exploited.
It said that the corncrake bones at Raytown, found along with the remains of other typical food items such as cattle and pig, indicated that the birds must have been eaten in early medieval times. It quoted ornithologist Gordon D'Arcy as writing that 17th to 19th century writers had referred to the corncrake as an esteemed culinary item. "The value of the bird as foodstuff is also suggested by the inclusion of two corncrakes as part of a ransom to be paid by Cormac MacAirt in a ninth-century poem," continues the report.