County: Cork Site name: CARRIGROHANE 2
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0073
Author: Ed Danaher, ACS Ltd.
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 561087m, N 570600m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.886213, -8.565267
During pre-development testing in the townland of Carrigrohane, as part of the N22 Ballincollig Bypass Scheme, a number of features were exposed, most notably a linear cut feature aligned north-west/south-east, a stone anomaly and a spread of in situ burning consisting of oxidised clay and charcoal inclusions. An area measuring 20m east–west by 8m was stripped by machine to remove topsoil and was subsequently cleaned by hand.
The site was within a large, undulating field, with this part of the field sloping sharply from north to south. When the extent of the site was established, it became evident that only a small number of deposits were present. The largest feature was a linear drainage ditch oriented north-west/south-east. It extended from outside the north-western site limits, terminating within the eastern quadrant of the site. It contained three fills, the first of which derived from the primary silting of the ditch after it had been dug. A thin stone layer, the secondary fill, was placed within the ditch to aid the flow of water through the feature. The tertiary fill of the ditch was a loose, mid-brown, clayey silt.
Evidence of the in situ burning of a tree/bush was present in the east of the site in the form of a layer of oxidised clay and associated burnt debris. A small, deliberately placed arrangement of stones with average diameters of 0.35m was present above the eastern extent of the drainage ditch. This stone anomaly measured 5m north–south by 2.25m, with limestone being the predominant rock type present. Many of these stones were placed on edge.
On consultation with the landowner, it emerged that a number of drainage ditches were dug in this area of the field over twenty years ago. The drainage ditch excavated within the site is one of these, while the stone anomaly appears to be a stone dump, an accumulation of the stones unearthed during the construction of the ditches to the north of this one. None of the deposits excavated within this site was archaeological in nature.
Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth
