County: Cork Site name: BANDON: McSweeney Quay
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 110:19 Licence number: 02E1757
Author: Niamh O’Callaghan, Eachtra Archaeological Projects
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 549110m, N 555115m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.746065, -8.736956
Three test-trenches were excavated by machine as part of an assessment before the construction of ten apartments and two commercial units on the south side of the Bandon River at McSweeney Quay (formerly Burlington Quay), Gully Rural, Bandon, Co. Cork. The site is within the zone of archaeological potential established around the walled town of Bandon.
The first trench, excavated on the western side of the site, was 26m long, 1.4m wide and 0.8–1.4m deep. Two layers were recorded above the natural subsoil. The lower layer was dark brown garden soil, 0.65m deep, with inclusions of modern pottery, slate, glass fragments, animal bone and oyster shells (thought to have originated from a fishmonger’s once situated at the rear of the development site and fronting onto South Main Street). The upper layer was building rubble used to level the area.
The two remaining trenches were excavated on the eastern side of the site. They were 20m long, 1.4m wide and 1.4–2.3m deep. Two layers were recorded over the natural subsoil. The lower layer, 0.6m deep, was a mid-brown silt with occasional modern rubble inclusions. The upper layer, 1.6m deep, was composed of building rubble and trunking for the carpark. This area was paved with tarmacadam.
No archaeological artefacts or layers were recorded.
3 Canal Place, Tralee, Co. Kerry
