2024:450 - Lybe, Belgooly, Cork

Monitoring was a requirement for the development of a single dwelling and garage as well as over 300m of an access track. The site was on the top of a steep south-looking ridge overlooking the coast with the Old Head of Kinsale in the distance. The land use was predominately tillage.

A length of existing track was cleaned and resurfaced before starting to strip the new portion of the track. Before commencing, the 30m required buffer zone was put in place around a ringfort (CO112-008) located to the north of the development. The development site was also stripped of topsoil.

A general stratigraphy over the site was recorded of between 0.3m and 0.4m of a light brown clay topsoil overlying an orange boulder clay and fractured shale bedrock.

A single isolated feature was excavated to the south of the location of the new dwelling and just within the route of the new track. It has been identified as a charcoal pit kiln and was located at 0567150 0555010. It was orientated roughly north-south and was rectangular in shape with rounded ends and measured 1.9m by 0.9m and 0.23m deep. It was filled with a mixed deposit of mixed clay subsoils with some charcoal inclusions. A deposit of charcoal of just 10mm in thickness  covered most of the level base. The surrounding gravels and boulder clays all showed evidence for fire-reddening. It was located c.100m to the southwest of the ringfort and the two could belong to the same period.