2001:173 - N8 GLANMIRE–WATERGRASSHILL ROAD SCHEME, Cork

The N8 Glanmire–Watergrasshill Road Scheme involves the construction of almost 10km of dual carriageway from Riverstown at the south as far as Skahanagh North to the north of Watergrasshill village. The road corridor traverses the townlands of Riverstown, Sarsfieldscourt, Killydonoghoe, Killalough, Ballinvinny South, Ballinvinny North, Kilrussane, Trantstown, Mitchellsfort, Meenane and Skahanagh North. The project includes the construction of eleven structures and intersects with eleven existing ancillary roads which will be modified to varying extents. One new ancillary road will be constructed.

Test-trenching in advance of road construction was carried out on the road corridor during May 2001. Two archaeological sites were identified, AR24 and AR28, which were later excavated under separate licences (see Excavations 2001, Nos 213 and 236). Monitoring was undertaken on the road corridor from April to December 2001. A variety of sites were identified during topsoil-stripping, ranging in date from the Bronze Age to the 18th/19th century. All sites were subsequently excavated. Each site identified during testing or monitoring that was considered to be of archaeological potential was given a sequential number. This numbering system was prefixed with the letters AR. A total of 33 AR numbers have been issued to date, and 23 licensed excavations were undertaken in tandem with the construction phase of the project. Several of the features identified were excavated under one licence because of the small, isolated nature of the deposits.

A small body of archaeological work remains to be concluded during 2002.

What follows is a list of sites identified during the course of testing and monitoring on the road scheme. One of the sites, a moated site in Ballinvinny South, had been identified before road construction began, but during topsoil-stripping an additional portion of the site was identified and excavated under an extension to the existing licence (see Excavations 2001, No. 110). The sites investigated were:

AR1 Killydonoghoe, possible enclosure, excavated by Rory Sherlock (see Excavations 2001, No. 189).
AR2 Killydonoghoe, Bronze Age burial, excavated by Rory Sherlock (see Excavations 2001, No. 190).
AR3 Killydonoghoe, no archaeological significance, excavated by Rory Sherlock (see Excavations 2001, No. 194).
AR4–6 Killydonoghoe, no archaeological significance, excavated by Rory Sherlock (see Excavations 2001, No. 194).
AR7 Killydonoghoe, Bronze Age settlement, excavated by Rory Sherlock (see Excavations 2001, No. 191).
AR8 Killydonoghoe, Bronze Age burial, excavated by Rory Sherlock (see Excavations 2001, No. 192).
AR9 Killydonoghoe, no archaeological significance, excavated by Brian Halpin (see Excavations 2001, No. 193).
AR10 Killydonoghoe, cremation burial, and AR11–13 Killydonoghoe, no archaeological significance, excavated by Rory Sherlock (see Excavations 2001, No. 194).
AR14 Ballinvinny South, trackway, excavated by Eamonn Cotter (see Excavations 2001, No. 112).
AR15 Ballinvinny South, site of smithy, excavated by Eamonn Cotter (see Excavations 2001, No. 111).
AR16 Ballinvinny South, moated site, excavated by Eamonn Cotter (see Excavations 2001, No. 110).
AR17 Mitchellsfort, redeposited burnt mound material, excavated by Avril Purcell (see Excavations 2001, No. 216).
AR18 Mitchellsfort, no archaeological significance, excavated by Avril Purcell (see Excavations 2001, No. 217).
AR19 Mitchellsfort, no archaeological significance, excavated by Avril Purcell (see Excavations 2001, No. 218).
AR20 Meenane, no archaeological significance, excavated by Brian Halpin (see Excavations 2001, No. 209).
AR21 Meenane, trackway, excavated by Avril Purcell (see Excavations 2001, No. 211).
AR22 Meenane, no archaeological significance, excavated by Rory Sherlock (see Excavations 2001, No. 212).
AR23 Meenane, possible fulacht fiadh, excavated by Brian Halpin (see Excavations 2001, No. 210).
AR24 Meenane, fulacht fiadh, excavated by Rory Sherlock (see Excavations 2001, No. 213).
AR25 Ballinvinny North, corn-drying kiln, excavated by Eamonn Cotter (see Excavations 2001, No. 109).
AR26 Ballinvinny North, bowl furnace, excavated by Rory Sherlock (see Excavations 2001, No. 108).
AR27 Kilrussane, bowl furnace, excavated by Rory Sherlock (see Excavations 2001, No. 195).
AR28 Trantstown, possible fulacht fiadh, excavated by Brian Halpin (see Excavations 2001, No. 236).
AR29 Trantstown, bowl furnace, excavated by Rory Sherlock (see Excavations 2001, No. 235).
AR30 Mitchellsfort, possible fulacht fiadh, excavated by Avril Purcell (see Excavations 2001, No. 219).
AR31 Mitchellsfort, possible fulacht fiadh, excavated by Rory Sherlock (see Excavations 2001, No. 220).
AR32 Mitchellsfort, cremation burial, excavated by Avril Purcell (see Excavations 2001, No. 221).
AR33 Killalough, burnt spread, excavated by Avril Purcell (see Excavations 2001, No. 173).

AE House, Monahan Road, Cork