County: Cork Site name: FORT HILL, Moneygurney
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 86:15 Licence number: 99E0374
Author: Meriel McClatchie, Archaeological Services Unit, Department of Archaeology, University College Cork
Site type: Ringfort - rath
Period/Dating: Early Medieval (AD 400-AD 1099)
ITM: E 571980m, N 567980m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.863318, -8.406824
Outline planning permission has been granted by Cork County Council for the construction of domestic dwellings at Fort Hill, Moneygurney td, Co. Cork. The outline permission required that an assessment be undertaken before development in order to determine the impact of the work on a levelled possible ringfort within the development site.
The possible ringfort is recorded on the 1842 edition of the 6-inch OS map. The cartographic evidence indicates that the site enclosed an area of c. 35m in diameter. The site is currently under grass, and there are no visible remains above ground. The land has been ploughed up to recent times, and the foundations for a road, Fort Hill East, were constructed across the ringfort c. fifteen years ago.
Four test-trenches were excavated in order to ascertain the perimeters of the ringfort. The excavation uncovered clear evidence for the upper fill of a ditch outside the now-levelled bank. The fill of the ditch lay directly beneath topsoil. The upper fill was a brown/grey, silty soil with some charcoal inclusions. The area outside the ditch was sterile.
Once the perimeter of the ringfort had been established, no further excavation was undertaken. Using the locations of the excavated perimeters of the ditch as a guide, the ringfort diameter has been established as 42m.
