1990:019 - MOGEELY CASTLE, Mogeely, Cork

In July and August, 1990, with the assistance from graduate students at University College, Cork, the remains of Sir Walter Raleigh's English settlement at Mogeely Castle, near Conna in east Co. Cork were located. From 20 July to 1 August, the archaeological team carried out a series of tests to locate the site of Elizabethan houses and to ascertain the condition of their remains. They examined aerial photographs taken by the Irish army and the Cork Archaeological Survey, checked historical records, and questioned local inhabitants for knowledge of Mogeely. A resistivity survey located several areas of high resistance suggesting house sites, and long lines of low resistance indicative of filled-in ditches. A third survey measured the surface elevation of the site at 5m intervals, irregularities in the natural slope may indicate enclosures for the colonists' houses.

For a final test, three small areas, each measuring 2m2, and placed to yield maximum information while causing a minimum of damage to the site, were excavated. Stone rubble and domestic refuse came to light in an area of high resistivity readings. An area of low resistance on the edge of the site yielded no archaeological evidence. The third test pit, halfway between the two, revealed the line on a ditch, which, upon excavation, was found to have been 0.7m wide and dug 0.8m below the present ground surface.

It is planned to completely excavate this house site next year. We have located the area of the colonial houses and believe that some remains have survived field ploughing. Our testing picked up animal bones and post-medieval pottery fragments from refuse deposits as well as a ditch that probably separated the domestic property from the fields. This is an opportunity to undertake the first excavation of an Elizabethan colonial house.

Macon, Georgia, U.S.A.