2002:0246 - CARRIGALINE MIDDLE, Cork

A phased programme of testing and excavation continued at this site before the development of a large, multi-phase housing development in the vicinity of two ringforts.

Area 1 (western ringfort)
After testing in December 2001 (Excavations 2001, No. 130), which identified significant areas of archaeological interest to the west and north of the western ringfort (SMR 87:30), an eight-week excavation was conducted in March–April 2002. A number of sections were excavated across the western side of the ditch of the western ringfort, the only area where the planned development will impinge on the feature, and in this area the ditch was generally uniform in shape, 5.9m wide at ground level, 2.2m wide at the base and 2m deep. The upper fills of the feature, to a depth of 1m below surface level, were relatively modern, while the lower fills represented the gradual silting and filling of the feature.

An earlier ditched feature, which was oval and pre-dated the western ringfort, had been identified on a geophysical survey and noted in the earlier testing. The enclosed area measured 37.5m by 31m, and the ditch of this feature had been truncated by the later ringfort ditch. As a result, approximately two-thirds of the oval feature lay within the ringfort and was not affected by the planned development; the ditch defining the remaining one-third, to the west of the ringfort, was fully excavated. The excavated part of the ditch was c. 30m long and was generally found to be 1.6m wide at ground level and 0.9m deep. The sides of the feature sloped regularly to the flat base, which was generally 0.3–0.4m wide and filled with a stony, silty clay. No features of archaeological interest were noted in the interior of the excavated part of the oval enclosure. A number of other features of interest lay to the north and west of the intersecting ditches, including post-holes, pits, cremation burials and possible funerary pyres. It appears therefore that Area 1 at Carrigaline Middle has clear evidence of Early Christian settlement and considerable evidence of prehistoric activity.

Area 2 (eastern ringfort)
Testing in the vicinity of the eastern ringfort (SMR 87:31) during August 2002 identified a limited number of features of archaeological interest, and the excavation of these features, together with the part of the ringfort ditch in the area affected by the planned development, took place over six weeks in November–December 2002. As the ringfort had been largely levelled many years ago, there was no evidence of the original ringfort bank in the excavated area. The ditch, where excavated at the southern side of the ringfort, was found to be 3.6–4m wide at ground level, 1.4–2m wide at the base and 2–2.3m deep. The entranceway was formed by an unexcavated causeway, 2.7m wide, which led to a gateway defined by a pair of substantial post-holes. These post-holes, which had a 1.3m-wide gap between them, were situated inside the inner edge of the ditch, apparently at the terminals of the now levelled ringfort bank. A small number of features of limited archaeological interest were excavated to the east of the ringfort.

AE House, Monahan Road, Cork