2002:0257 - RATHBARRY CHURCH, Castlefreke, Cork

Excavations were carried out at this site, known as Rathbarry Church, in March 2002 before conservation work by Cork County Council. The site is 850m from the south coast of County Cork, 4.3km south-east of the town of Rosscarbery. Rathbarry Church is a long, single-cell church measuring 28m by 6.4m. A 13th-century triple-lancet east window survives almost intact. A piscina set in a niche at the east end of the south wall with a trefoil head and roll-moulded jambs is also of 13th-century date. The remains of a ruined tower were visible at the western end of the church but were mostly obscured by collapsed masonry and overgrowth. The entire western end of the church appears to be a late addition, possibly dating to the 17th or 18th century. The tower originally extended to the full height of the gable, if not higher, and it probably functioned as a bell tower, although it may also have provided accommodation for a clergyman. Excavation was concentrated in the area of this tower and around a wide breach in the north wall of the church, near its eastern end.

Clearance of rubble around the exterior of the tower showed it to have measured 1.95m north–south by 2.2m internally. The northern wall stands to a maximum height of 1.7m, and the western wall to 0.5m. Removal of the sod and underlying rubble soon revealed that the ground floor of the tower originally had a vaulted roof, which had collapsed onto the floor of the building. Some of the springing stones of the vault survived in situ on the south wall. The underside of the collapsed vault showed signs of burning, and black sooty material was found adhering to some of the stones. The doorway connecting the tower and the church interior was also arched, and some small springing stones survived in situ.

Below the collapsed masonry a layer of light brown, gritty, sandy loam covered the floor area to a depth of c. 0.1m. Below this was a layer of black, hard-packed, silty loam, 0.1m deep, in which a setting of large, flat stones lay along the northern, western and southern sides of the tower. Below the loam layer much of the tower floor was covered by a layer of burnt ashes and black sooty material. Near the centre of the floor, ground level sloped down toward a bowl-shaped depression. When excavated, this depression was revealed to be a circular pit, 1.1m in diameter and 0.47m deep, with a rectangular westward extension measuring 0.9m north–south by 0.5m and 0.3m deep. At the base of the pit two pieces of sandstone slate had been laid on the boulder clay. The pit was filled with layers of black sooty material containing numerous pieces of burnt twigs and charcoal.

Immediately to the south-west of the pit was a row of three small stake-holes and a post-hole, with three packing stones set around its edge.

The presence of ashy material and the burnt twigs and charcoal within the pit clearly indicates burning within the tower, as do the sooty deposits on the underside of the collapsed vault stones. However, there was no direct burning of the sides of the pit, of the stonework within the tower or of the slates that lined the base of the pit. This suggests that the fire was contained within a brazier or stove of some kind that may have provided heat for the rooms above and for the western end of the church, in a primitive form of the more elaborate heating systems found in many 19th-century Church of Ireland churches.

A trench excavated outside the north wall showed that it had been constructed in two different phases, as a 9.3m-long section at the eastern end had deeper foundations than the remainder. Detailed survey of the church revealed a slight change of direction at this point, indicating an original church 9–9.5m long, with a subsequent westward extension.

Ballynanelagh, Rathcormac, Co. Cork