1992:019 - CARRIGEEN EAST, Cork

In August and September 1992, the remains of a 16th-century plantation settlement were tentatively located on the banks of the River Bride in north-east Cork. Pre-excavation field-work on the site consisted of the interpretation of a plantation map of 1598 which clearly showed a hamlet of 3 or possibly 4 'English-type' houses with property boundaries running south towards the river. The existence of an 'Irish-type' cabin to the rear of the buildings suggested that the settlement may have had its origins as a pre-plantation clachan. A curvilinear boundary division was suggested to the east while a palisade fence defined the settlement to the south. A resistivity survey carried out immediately prior to the excavation in the general area of the houses was initially encouraging and 2 trenches were subsequently opened.

All archaeological activity in Trench A was delineated by a curvilinear ditch which butt-ended in the middle of the cutting, extending north and then curving to the north-east. It was almost vertically sided with a flat bottom, 1.5m wide at the top, 0.6m wide at the bottom and 0.5m deep. Although no finds were recovered from the fill, the ditch cut the natural subsoil and it is tempting to suggest that the ditch is the remains of the eastern boundary of the settlement with associated features truncated by later ploughing.

Trench B, 40m to the west, consisted of 2 cuttings, both of which revealed areas of differential cobbling. A robber trench was identified separating an area of fine cobbling from an area of rougher cobbling to the east. The edge of the former area is defined by a number of larger stones containing a patch of pinkish clay, extending roughly south-east/north-west. An extension of this possible wall line on plan was investigated in a sondage which revealed a loose gravelly fill within a well-defined cut. A box-section to the west revealed more of this trench, cutting the natural subsoil and terminating at a boulder-type outcrop of bedrock. A patch of pinkish clay was also revealed in this area and may have constituted a bonding material for the wall.

What would appear to be another ill-defined robber trench extends roughly north-south, delineating the eastern edge of the finer cobbling. A break of 0.6m may represent an entrance into an eastern compartment of the house. A sondage at the western end of the trench revealed a loose gravelly fill within an ephemeral cut, suggesting the existence of another robber trench, extending roughly north-south. A shallow linear scar extends across the main area of the fine cobbling, running north-west/south-east, 0.1m-0.15m in width and 0.05m in depth, terminating to the east at one of the robber trenches. A gap in this feature, 0.85m in length, is defined by 2 flat stones and it is possible that this feature is a beam slot for a flimsy interior wall, incorporating an entrance from a southern compartment into a northern one.

The structure defined by the differential cobbling and the possible robber trenches has an approximate interior length of 11m and is aligned lengthways towards the south-west. Arranged in 2 bays, the western bay is the largest, with an interior length of approximately 5.2m; this room itself is possibly divided into 2 compartments, the northern one with interior dimensions of 5.2m x 2m. Unfortunately, no hearth was excavated within the cutting and no artefacts connected with the construction, occupation or destruction of the structure were recovered.

The site was investigated as part of the continuing research project examining the archaeology of Elizabethan Munster under the direction of Dr Eric Klingelhofer of Mercer University, Macon, Georgia, and funding was provided under the auspices of the National Committee for Archaeology of the Royal Irish Academy by the Office of Public Works. It is planned to continue the excavation of this settlement in 1993.

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