County: Cork Site name: CORK: White Street Car Park, Centre Ward
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Anne Marie Lennon, Dept. of Archaeology, University College Cork.
Site type: Town
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 567457m, N 571762m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.897063, -8.472851
White Street car park is situated in an area zoned as archaeologically sensitive by the Cork Urban Archaeological Survey and since Cork Corporation proposed to re-develop the southern section of the car park, archaeological investigation took place for a period of five days in March 1988 funded by the Corporation.
The earliest evidence for occupation appears on maps of Cork city dating back to the 1770s, where the area under investigation is shown as gardens for houses fronting onto the present day Douglas Street.
The approximate area proposed for redevelopment was 32m north east by 74m east west. A total of 13 trenches one metre wide were opened and excavated to a depth varying between 2.5m and 3m, where sterile gravel was located. The stratigraphy of all the trenches was consistent, with similar rubble deposits. There was nothing present in any of the trenches to indicate activity earlier than the late 18th or 19th century.
