County: Cork Site name: CHARLES FORT, Forthill, Kinsale
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 125:7 Licence number: 98E0536
Author: Margaret McCarthy, Archaeological Services Unit, University College Cork
Site type: Bastioned fort
Period/Dating: Post Medieval (AD 1600-AD 1750)
ITM: E 565505m, N 549452m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.696407, -8.498987
An excavation, funded by The National Monuments and Historic Properties Service, was undertaken at Charles Fort, Kinsale, Co. Cork, in an area that will form the base of a large model of the fort. Archaeological supervision during service trenching in 1979 recorded the remains of a substantial wall close to the original citadel, as well as the possible outer edge of a ditch cut into the bedrock. As there was a possibility that this ditch extended as far as the area chosen for the display, an excavation was undertaken over a three-week period in December 1998.
A trench measuring 5m x 5m was opened in an area directly opposite the main entrance to the fort. The sod and topsoil were quite shallow and rarely exceeded 80mm. In places, particularly at the north-eastern corner of the trench, the bedrock became exposed at a very high level, resulting in a difference in height of almost 1m between the northern and southern ends of the trench.
The excavation uncovered traces of stone huts associated with the latest phase of military use of the site, as well as a series of recent post- and stake-holes interpreted as possible tent structures. Apart from the recovery of a small quantity of human remains representing a juvenile individual, nothing of archaeological significance was recovered.
