1987:08 - SHERKIN ISLAND FRIARY, Farranacoush, Cork

Drainage has long been a problem at this 15th-century Franciscan (Observant) friary where water, seeping from the marshy field west of the friary into the western claustral range buildings, was seriously weakening the walls and foundations of these structures. Excavation was deemed necessary in order to lower the ground level outside the western end of the church nave and the western claustral range and thereby facilitate the building of an effective drainage system.

The excavations revealed a series of stone-built drains ranging in date from the 15th to the 19th century which were designed to carry ground water away from the cloister buildings. One exception to this was the earliest drainage system which ran under the northern claustral range which probably housed the kitchens and refectory of the community. The remains of a stone-built sump were recovered abutting the western range wall. Three drains fed into this sump from the surrounding field and a sluice-like opening in the range wall was probably used for the dumping of slops into the sump. This structure had been cleared out at some stage and backfilled with old roofing slates.

The ground level on this side of the friary has been raised by over 1m since the 15th century owing to the accumulation of old roofing material from the cloister buildings and domestic refuse dating to the 17th/ 18th centuries when the friary was the centre of a thriving pilchard exporting business. A stone-built well, 2.5m deep, was uncovered 4m to the north-west of the cloister and excavation of the sediment produced animal bone, small fragments of worked wood, a fragment of shoe leather and several sherds of 17th-century pottery.

The bulk of artifacts recovered during the excavation consisted of 17th/18th-century pottery.