2007:324 - YOUGHAL: O’Rahilly Street, Cork

Two test-trenches were excavated in a proposed development site located close to the projected line of the riverside stretch of the Youghal town wall. There are no visible remains of the town wall in the vicinity of the development site and no traces were uncovered during previous monitoring by Stuart Elder of service trenches across its projected line on O’Rahilly Street (Excavations 2001, No. 239, 01E1149).

The majority of the site was occupied by a modern retail building and the only accessible area was a narrow concrete yard, measuring 10m by 5m, to the south-west of the building. The stratigraphy encountered in the south end of the yard consisted of a 0.75m-deep loose rubble layer containing brick and lime mortar. The rubble overlay a sterile, yellowish-brown silt clay layer and this was still present at a depth of 0.9m below modern ground level. The sides of the trench collapsed at this depth and excavation halted, as the foundations of the adjoining buildings were in danger of collapse. It was unclear if the silty clay layer was the natural subsoil or an infilled deposit associated with the post-medieval reclamation works along the riverside area of the town.

The brick-and-mortar rubble layer was also present in the north trench. It measured 0.6m deep in this area and contained the basal remains of a 0.3m-high brick wall. The rubble overlay a 0.1m-deep layer of sterile sand, which in turn sealed a 0.3m-deep stony grey/brown silt clay layer that contained inclusions of brick and post-medieval pottery. This overlay the sterile silty clay layer, which was also found in the south trench, at a depth of 1m below modern ground level. There was no trace of the town wall or medieval deposits encountered during test-trenching at this site. Further testing was recommended following the proposed demolition of the modern retail building at this site.