2007:311 - RAHOONAGH WEST, Cork

A small-scale rescue excavation and reconstruction was undertaken at the clapper bridge in Rahoonagh West, Ballyvourney, Macroom, in 2007. This excavation was required to repair damage to the monument that occurred during winter flooding in December 2006 and subsequent further collapse of parts of the structure, identified in March 2007 by Connie Kelleher. The writer was contracted by the National Monuments section of the DoEHLG to undertake a rescue excavation and to oversee the reconstruction of the collapsed portion of the bridge.

The stone collapse was removed by hand, with the larger stones removed by a JCB fitted with a sling. All the slabs were carefully laid on the riverbank. A surviving bridge pier was uncovered beneath the collapse, while the area on either side of the pier was excavated by hand to the level of the bottom of the surviving pier. No artefacts were recovered, and no indication of a pre-bridge structure was noted. A small area of the left bank was also excavated by hand, to identify if any slabs survived there. No large slab was found. However, three small slabs, probably the collapsed remains of a pier, were noted. A second trench was opened 3m from the riverbank, on the north side of the river, in order to ascertain if any part of the bridge remained. This trench identified a line of stones, tentatively identified as stepping-stones, which were laid on natural yellow clay.

Following on from the archaeological investigation, two piers were reinstated by stonemasons from the OPW, reusing the full complement of stones recovered from the collapse. The pier on the left bank of the river was constructed in such a fashion as to stabilise the bank, which is rapidly eroding on this side. A smaller pier was also constructed on the site of an earlier pier, which had washed away, but the basal stone was identified, thus giving an accurate location of the old pier. The top slabs were then reinstated, the sandbags removed and the water allowed to flow under the bridge. It was also noted that a concentration of stones on the downriver side of the piers has a structural function and had been placed there to form a buttress, to support the piers against the force of the water. These were also tidied up and piled behind the piers to add extra support.

A metal-detection survey of the immediate area around and under the bridge was carried out, but only modern detritus was retrieved, such as barbed wire, nails, a screw and a battery.

Partial cleaning back of the grass/top sod from the right bank of the river revealed an area of cobbling, which was in turn partially covered in concrete. This reinforces the fact that this was also in use as a fording point and continued in use over a long period of time.