1999:104 - FOILDARRIG, Cork

Test-trenching was carried out in May 1999 before housing construction, in compliance with a planning condition imposed because of the proximity of the development to the site of a castle that formerly stood in this area. No visible trace of the castle now survives, and its exact location is uncertain.

Three test-trenches, each c. 30m long, were opened across the area of the proposed development. Trench A ran east-west across the southern part of the site, Trench B ran parallel to it across the northern part of the site, and Trench C ran north-south, connecting A and B and extending c. 6m further north to the edge of a low-lying marshy area in the north-western corner of the site.

Topsoil varied from 0.2m to 0.7m deep and was deepest at the south-east corner of the site, where modern dumping had taken place. The topsoil lay directly on undisturbed natural subsoil and gravels.

Nothing of archaeological significance was noted.