1989:010 - COORADARRIGAN, Cork

The excavation of two boulder monuments in Cooradarrigan townland, Co. Cork, over a three-week period in April 1988, was carried out as a training project for undergraduate students of University College Cork. The site is located on a broad shelf of land beneath the southern slopes of Mt Gabriel, 3km to the north of Schull village. This project involved the complete dismantling, excavation and restoration of both structures as well as investigation of the surrounding area. It was discovered that 19th-century lazy-bed cultivation had destroyed the prehistoric land surface in this area, though evidence of a stake structure around one of the monuments did survive.

The larger structure at this site is representative of a wider class of monuments, termed boulder burials, which appear to be closely associated with stone circles and alignments in Cork and Kerry. It consists of a large vein quartz cover-stone of approximately 5-6 tons weight, supported by a tripod arrangement of smaller boulders. The latter are arranged to create an opening on the north side, directly opposite which is a low outlying stone, distinguishing this as the functional side of the monument. This opening was partly blocked by a central stake, with a surrounding facade created by two rows of three stakes on the eastern and western sides of the monument. Excavation beneath the cover-stone revealed a central pit measuring 0.56m by 0.46m by 0.3m. No human burial evidence or finds were recovered, but the pit did contain enough charcoal for radiocarbon determination (GrN-15716; 3080 ±35BP).

The second boulder monument is located 3.8m to the east of the above structure and appears to have been less carefully built. It consists of a smaller cover-stone (approx. 3-4 tons), resting unevenly on three support stones and the old ground surface. Removal of the boulder cover revealed a large irregular pit, measuring 0.94m by 0.75m by 0.43m, excavation of which failed to reveal human burial evidence of grave goods. No charcoal was recovered for radiocarbon purposes. The monumental nature of the Cooradarrigan structures, both of which overlay central pits, would appear to suggest a largely sepulchral function for this site, probably involving a token cremation interment.

Radiocarbon dating of the larger monument suggests a Late Bronze Age context for this and similar sites and possibly, by extension, for other elements of the Cork-Kerry Stone Circle Complex.

Editor's note: Although excavated in 1988, the report on this site was received too late for inclusion in the Bulletin for that year.