County: Cork Site name: CASTLELANDS, Mallow
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 33:01101 Licence number: 00E0830
Author: Avril Purcell of Sheila Lane and Associates
Site type: Ringfort - rath
Period/Dating: Early Medieval (AD 400-AD 1099)
ITM: E 556567m, N 598394m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.135703, -8.634444
Seven test-trenches were excavated in the vicinity of three known sites in advance of a residential development in Castlelands townland near Mallow. Much of the site had been stripped of topsoil under previously issued planning conditions. Two of the sites are ringforts—SMR 33:10, which is outside the development area, and 33:01101, which is within a proposed green area within the development area. The latter has been levelled, and no visible trace of it survives. The other site, SMR 33:01102, is a possible circular enclosure and had been identified from an aerial photograph. This site lies within the proposed development area.
The upstanding ringfort 33:10 is south of the development site and is separated from it by a substantial wall. A trench was opened north of the wall inside the area of the development. No archaeological features or finds were revealed in this trench, nor were any archaeological remains visible in the surrounding topsoil-stripped ground. Thus deposits associated with the ringfort do not appear to extend into the development site.
Archaeological deposits were located in one of the four trenches opened in the area of the levelled ringfort, 33:01101. These deposits probably represent part of the fill of the ringfort ditch. Their location in relation to the other test-trenches opened suggests that surviving deposits associated with the ringfort are confined to a small area, and the surrounding ground has been very heavily disturbed. The deposits will be preserved in situ.
Trenches opened in the area of the possible circular enclosure, 33:01102, indicate that this is a geological feature. Underlying bedrock was found to be just below topsoil within a small circular area that corresponds with the circular anomaly highlighted through an aerial photograph.
Further work will be undertaken in conjunction with archaeological consultation.
Church Road, Carrigaline, Co. Cork
