2007:AD17 - GARRYLEAGH (1), Cork

Phase 2 excavation works were undertaken, on behalf of Cork County Council, along the route of the N8 Fermoy–Mitchelstown bypass. The proposed bypass involves the construction of c. 16km of dual carriageway extending from Gortore north of Fermoy to Carrigane north-east of Mitchelstown. A programme of advance testing (Phase 1) had been carried out in October 2005, the results of which appeared in Excavations 2005.

Excavations at Garryleagh 1 revealed the length of a substantial ditch, a furnace pit, a series of cultivation furrows, a field boundary, a pit and two spreads. The excavation covered an area of c. 2100m2.

The furnace pit was subcircular in plan with concave sides and a flat base. It contained charcoal and ash-rich deposits along with slag and furnace lining. A ditch nearby may have been related to the use of the furnace, as the lower fill was slag-rich. The ditch was substantial, measuring 10.2m long with clear terminals at each end. It was 1.3m wide and 0.42m deep. It was aligned south-south-west to north-north-east. There was no indication of a bank at either side of the ditch. An intact furnace bottom was recovered on the lip of the south-western terminal. The uppermost ditch fills were cut by three furrows at the north of the site, indicating that the ditch pre-dated the furrows.

An area with dumped burnt material was found at the south-west of the site. This comprised two charcoal-rich spreads and a pit. There was no indication of in situ burning at either spread and they may be dumped burnt waste. The small pit nearby also contained charcoal-rich deposits but once again there was no evidence for in situ burning. As these were located a considerable distance from the furnace, and did not contain slag, it is surmised that the burnt material in these deposits originated outside the area of excavation.

One of the charcoal-rich spreads was cut and post-dated by a furrow; other furrows also cut the uppermost fills of the ditch associated with the furnace. The furrows therefore represent the most recent phase of archaeological activity at the site. A total of five furrows were found. These were spade-dug lazy-beds that ran north-north-west to south-south-east. They share a common alignment with a linear field boundary also excavated at the site. The boundary ditch had stepped sides and it was marked on the first-edition OS map, indicating that it was still extant in the 19th century. As the furrows and the boundary run on the same alignment it indicates that that boundary was in existence when these furrows were formed, and that all are part of the same field system.