County: Kerry Site name: GORTMORE, Ballyferriter
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 03E1335
Author: Laurence Dunne, Eachtra Archaeological Projects
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 435220m, N 604222m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.165196, -10.408795
A souterrain was discovered in the north-west corner of the site in 1981 during the construction of a national school. The site was subsequently filled in. However, its precise location is not recorded, though it is believed to be under or partially under the school’s foundations. A machine with a 1m flat bucket was used to open test-trenches along the footprint of the foundations for the proposed extension. The topsoil was a light-brown silty clay measuring c. 0.4–0.6m in depth; underlying this was a dark-grey sandy clay with many small stones. The natural subsoil, an orange sandy clay, was encountered at a depth of c. 1.4m on the southern side and c. 1m on the northern side of the site. A concentration of stones was observed on the western side of the southernmost trench. However, these did not form a coherent feature and are considered to be natural.
A single trench measuring 22m by 1m was excavated along the southern limits of the proposed ball court to the north of the school. The topsoil was a light-brown silty clay measuring 0.25–0.3m in depth. Underlying this was a deposit of rubble material measuring c. 1m in depth. The subsoil was an orange/grey sandy clay. No archaeology was present. No trace of the souterrain was recorded in any of the trenches.
3 Canal Place, Tralee, Co. Kerry
