2003:0285 - LISCAHANE, Cork

The construction of a local authority housing estate on the outskirts of Millstreet led to the discovery of a previously unrecorded souterrain. The excavation was carried out on behalf of Cork County Council and took place over a period of one week in July 2003. The site appeared, on initial inspection, as a single drystone-built chamber roofed by three large capstones. The drystone walling remained intact at the north-east end of the chamber and this also represented the terminus to the souterrain. The chamber measured 2.5m in length, 0.85m in width and reached a maximum height of 1.07m. A 6m by 6m area was opened around the chamber and the subsequent excavation suggested that this monument was abandoned before completion. Firstly, there was no evidence for an entrance and access was provided through the south-west corner of the chamber, which was open-ended.

The occurrence of a large rectangular pit at a right angle to the south-east corner of the chamber seemed to represent a continuation to the souterrain. Excavation revealed that this pit was physically separated from the chamber by 1.9m, but the overall dimensions of both features were similar. The pit appeared to have been backfilled relatively quickly after it was dug and the occurrence of large amounts of medium and large stones on both sides indicated that an unsuccessful attempt had been made to construct a stone facing. Two long narrow trenches measuring 30m in length were extended in a southern and a western direction from the main trench, but there was no evidence for an enclosing feature associated with the souterrain.