1999:098 - SAINT MARY'S OF THE ISLE, Cork, Cork

Excavation of trenches for the laying of sewer pipes for the Cork Main Drainage Scheme was monitored by archaeologists from Cork Corporation. The work took place in the grounds of the Mercy convent of Saint Mary's of the Isle. The site is adjacent to a Dominican priory excavated in 1993 (Excavations 1993, 9–10, 93E0103, and Hurley and Sheehan 1995).

Part of a garden wall, which was 1m high, was excavated; it was discovered that its original purpose was as an 18th/19th-century quay wall on the south bank of a tributary of the River Lee. It was excavated to a height of 3m.

Eighteen walls and associated floorings, culverts and a drystone well were evident in the eastern part of the grounds. These were the remains of the 19th-century buildings of St Anne's Adoption Society, which had been demolished during the 1970s. This orphanage was founded in 1853. Some of the walls uncovered abutted the quay wall, and these represent the washrooms of the orphanage, while the walls excavated immediately to the south-west are the remains of the dormitories and refectory.

To the south-west of these 19th-century buildings part of a medieval stone structure was discovered. Three substantial walls form the western portion of a room that had a mortared floor; its remaining internal dimensions were 1.15m from east to west and 2.3m from north to south. These walls were built on wooden foundation piles. One of these walls extended from the building for a further 9.47m to the west and may be part of a mill-race that carried water to or from a waterwheel via this channel. Maps dating to the medieval period depict a mill in this vicinity.

Reference
Hurley, M.F. and Sheehan, C.M. 1995 Excavations at the Dominican Priory, Saint Mary's of the Isle, Crosse's Green Cork. Cork.

City Hall, Cork