2000:0445 - CLAHANE, Tralee, Kerry

Test excavations were conducted in the grounds of Clahane House on the outskirts of Tralee, to broaden our knowledge of the archaeology in this locality, which has produced extensive evidence of prehistoric habitation from a number of pre-development excavations undertaken over the last three years. The site consists of a limestone outcrop with a level grassy area on its summit, where an enclosure was encountered, and an underlying cave system with an entrance at the base of the outcrop. Excavations were conducted over three weeks from 3 to 21 September 2000.

The enclosure
The limestone outcrop rises c. 4m above the surrounding land and measures c. 35m x 18m across its summit. The excavations at this site follow a geophysical survey conducted on the area of the enclosure. Three trenches were opened in this area, with their respective positions being chosen to investigate specific geophysical anomalies identified in the survey. These trenches uncovered a platform of rough limestone rubble construction, as well as a partially collapsed bank or wall of limestone and earth, c. 0.4m high and 1.2m wide, which appeared to run around the perimeter of the levelled area.

Finds recovered from the enclosure were mostly limited to 19th/early 20th-century pottery, glass and animal bone. The only artefacts of any possible antiquity were two possible hone stones recovered within the fabric of the wall. The rough platform within the enclosure is deemed likely to relate to early 20th-century levelling of the summit for use as a tennis lawn.

The cave system
The entrance to the cave system lies c. 20m east of the enclosure on the summit of the outcrop. Its entrance faces north-north-east and consists of a vertical cleft in the sheer rock face measuring 2.3m high by c. 1m maximum width. The cave had been used as a dumping ground throughout the 20th century, and large deposits of broken glass, ceramic, rusted metal etc. had accumulated both within and outside the entrance. The excavated depth of the cave’s main shaft extended southwards in a straight line for a distance of 4.2m from the entrance, before turning south-east and continuing to be traceable for a further 3m. This shaft consists of two chambers: one chamber immediately inside the entrance (c. 2m x 1.5m) and another, slightly smaller example farther south (c. 1.5m x 1.5m) through a short, narrow section (c. 0.75m long). The height of the cave’s roof varied between 1.8m and 3.2m within the main shaft, with a significant north–south downward slope as the rear of the cave was approached.

Slightly inside the cave entrance two lesser shafts ran off to the west, with lengths of 3m and 3.5m respectively. The more northerly of these two shafts terminates in a chamber measuring 1.75m x 1.5m. A narrow shaft also runs off to the east of the entrance’s interior for a length of c. 2.5m. A final narrow shaft runs off to the south-west from the rear of the cave and is traceable for a distance of c. 1m.

No deposit considered likely to be of an archaeological nature was encountered within the outer chamber, although several possible stone artefacts were recovered, including several possible hones similar to those from the enclosure and a hammerstone. Absent from the outer chamber was a thick deposit of very compact, yellow silt, which covered the floor of the inner chamber. This deposit (max. thickness c. 0.5m) contained modern debris in its upper part and had the appearance of a natural deposit accumulating as a result of percolation of sediments through the roof of the cave.

Excavations at ‘Fortlands’ were inconclusive in most regards. Modern dumping and alteration had clearly disturbed deposits at both the enclosure and the cave system, lessening the archaeological potential of the sites. No datable samples or artefacts were recovered.

3 Canal Place, Tralee, Co. Kerry