County: Cork Site name: CORK: 2 Hill Lane, off Dominick Street, Shandon
Sites and Monuments Record No.: CO074-122 Licence number: 03E1433
Author: Hilary Kelleher
Site type: Historic town
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 567225m, N 572356m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.902397, -8.476278
Monitoring of proposed modifications to the interior ground level of a residential house at No. 2 Hill Lane, Dominick Street, Shandon, was undertaken. This house is situated adjacent to the zone of archaeological potential for Cork city (SMR 74–34(01)) and within the secondary zone (SMR 74:122), which is a ‘Recorded Monument’, as defined by the Cork Urban Archaeological Survey (Bradley et al. 1985).
An area measuring 6.4m east–west by 6m was excavated. The interior ground level was reduced to a depth of between 0.5 and 1m. No. 2 is a small one-storey terraced cottage, which probably dates to the early 19th century. No features of archaeological significance were found during monitoring. The stratigraphy recorded would indicate that the house was the original house developed on the site, with little or no foundations. The site stratigraphy mainly consisted of infill ground made up of sandstone and slate used to level the undulating surface of the natural stratigraphy. The site is developed on a man-made elevation/platform on a natural slope overlooking the River Lee.
Cartographic evidence for Hill Lane suggests that the lane was not laid out until the mid-1700s; most of the maps do not name Hill Lane but indicate a passageway leading from Dominick Street to Pope’s Quay in the position of the present-day Hill Lane. It is likely that the name derives from a person (most probably a previous resident) rather than the obvious association of it being a natural hill, as the accompanying map to Griffith’s valuation (1852) refers to the lane as ‘Hills Lane’.
The site is near a number of monuments, the closest being Shandon Castle (SMR 74:32); however, it is suggested that any associated features of Shandon Castle are more likely to exist north of Hill Lane on more level ground. However, the present location of Hill Lane may represent an ancient pathway leading from the castle down the cliff face to the north channel of the River Lee.
References
Bradley, J., Halpin, A. and King, H.A. (1985) Urban archaeology survey: part XIV (i): Cork city. Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works.
Griffith, R. (1852) General valuation of rateable property in Ireland: Municipal Borough of Cork, Union of Cork. Valuation of the several tenements comprising the borough above named. Dublin.
'Claire-View', Iona Park, Mayfield, Cork
