County: Cork Site name: BARNAHELY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 96E0086
Author: Edmond O'Donovan for Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 577154m, N 563763m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.825648, -8.331415
Monitoring and trial excavation took place on the site of the Merfin factory at Barnahely, Ringaskiddy, to fulfil conditions of the planning permission for the scheme. Mechanical excavation took place in early April 1996, with ground clearance monitoring carried out later in the month. The archaeological excavation was carried out prior to the commencement of topsoil-stripping or development works. The site was landscaped at the turn of the century to facilitate the construction of a military barracks and its associated facilities.
Forty test-trenches were mechanically excavated to natural subsoil to establish the presence of any archaeological soils or features on the site. One trench revealed an area of burning which consisted of a circular, shallow, fire-reddened pit, 0.75m in diameter, filled with charcoal and ash. The area around this feature was later monitored.
During the site assessment, a millstone and two incomplete fragments of millstones were discovered with other stones against the field boundary. They may have been placed in this location during field clearance prior to the construction of the barracks. No associated archaeological structures were revealed in connection with the millstones during trenching and monitoring. The work fulfilled the archaeological requirements for the development.
Rath House, Ferndale Road, Rathmichael, Co. Dublin
