County: Cork Site name: DUNBOY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Mr. E.M. Fahy, Dept of Geography, University College Cork
Site type: Castle- tower house and Bastioned fort
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 466479m, N 544069m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.633227, -9.928870
Excavations were continued during a period of one month in July-August, 1972. The objective of the work was to uncover the entrance area of the fort, and to examine the siege level and original ground surface.
An area exceeding 100 sq.m. was excavated to a maximum depth of 2.5m. No reliable evidence of the fort entrance came to light. A 9m long section of curtain wall, lying north-south was found to be built as a secondary feature in relation to a large rock-cut pond basin of the primary, castle period. Where it crossed the pond the wall was carried on an arch-like foundation of stone slabs set vertically and resting on a timber plank laid on the bottom of the pond.
Various pot-sherds were found and a cannon ball embedded in the base of the curtain wall indicated that the wall was of siege period.
The quite unexpected complications in the zone excavated seriously restricted the area covered by the excavations.
