2005:168 - BALLINTEMPLE, Cork

NMI Burial Excavation Records

County: Cork Site name: BALLINTEMPLE

Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 05E0925

Author: Tony Cummins, for Sheila Lane & Associates, Deanrock Business Park, Togher, Cork.

Site type: Souterrain and kiln

Period/Dating:

ITM: E 566393m, N 571114m

Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.891180, -8.488235

A previously unrecorded souterrain was uncovered during construction of a housing development in a greenfield site in Ballintemple townland, located in the southern suburbs of Cork city. There were no archaeological conditions attached to the planning schedule for this project, but the developers promptly arranged for the relevant authorities to be informed of their discovery.
Topsoil-stripping had been completed across the entire development site before the souterrain was discovered when the wheel of a soil-laden dumper truck collapsed into the passage. A number of the stones in the roofs and walls had cracked under the weight of the machinery during soil-reduction works and areas of the souterrain had begun to collapse. The exposed natural subsoil in all areas of the development site was inspected prior to commencement of the archaeological excavation and no additional features or finds were noted. The area around the souterrain had been disturbed by a number of walls and pits, containing modern rubbish material, and these appeared to be associated with a recently demolished farmhouse located in the area immediately to the south. The souterrain was located on the footprint of a proposed apartment building and, following consultation with the DoEHLG, it was agreed that a full excavation should be carried out prior to any further construction work in this area.
The souterrain was of drystone construction and consisted of an unrestricted passage leading, via a creepway, into a single rectangular chamber. It was built in a large, open, L-shaped trench which was backfilled with redeposited subsoil once construction of the souterrain was completed. The weathered, subrectangular limestone fragments used in the vertical souterrain walls ranged between 0.07 and 0.4m wide and 0.06 and 0.2m in thickness. These appeared to have been gathered during field clearance activity rather than being deliberately hewn stones. The souterrain roof was formed by stone lintels supported by a row of subrectangular stones extending from the uppermost courses of the walls. The portions of these support stones resting on the walls were weighed down with small water-rolled boulders. The chamber roof was formed by four large, subrectangular lintel stones, which rested on the stones extending from the top of the walls. The chamber lintels ranged between 1.14 and 1.63m long, 0.48 and 0.96m wide and 0.05 and 0.15m in thickness. Many of the stones forming the passage roof had broken under the weight of the earth-moving machinery and the surviving portion of the roof collapsed shortly after commencement of the archaeological excavation. The lintels forming the passage roof were smaller than those used in the chamber, which may account for the localised collapse in this area. The roof stones in the east end of the passage had been removed for use in the construction of an adjacent post-medieval kiln structure. The roof lintels were overlain by a spread of smaller cobbles and these were deposited to seal any gaps before the souterrain structure was buried with backfilled subsoil. All of the stones used in the souterrain were examined for traces of ogham inscriptions or rock art, but none were present.
The souterrain entrance was located at the east end of the passage and was formed by a 0.6m-wide drop-hole. The entrance area had been disturbed by a post-medieval kiln and was completely blocked with soil deposits containing 19th/20th-century artefacts. The entrance pit led into a 0.62m-wide by 0.6m-high entrance creepway, which extended westwards for 1.3m until it entered the passage. The passage measured 0.95m high by 5m long and the width increased slightly from 1m at the east to 1.1m at the western terminal. The passage floor was formed by a loosely packed cobble surface consisting of water-rolled stones measuring 0.08–0.15m long. The passage and chamber were linked by a 1.3m-long creepway measuring 0.4m wide by 0.3m high and it was formed by a number of upright side stones supporting a number of lintel stones. The creepway was located at floor level close to the west end of the south wall of the passage. This led to an opening in the north wall of the chamber and there was a drop of 0.2m from the creepway down onto the chamber floor. The rectangular chamber measured 1.1m high and 3.2m north–south by 1.5m wide. The upper surface of the passage and chamber roofs were at the same level and the increased standing room in the chamber was created by digging the construction trench to a greater depth in this area. A cubbyhole was located at ground level in the south end of the west wall of the chamber and this measured 0.6m wide, 0.5m high and 0.6m deep. The sides were delimited by upright slabs and these supported two lintel stones which formed the roof. The floor and rear of the cubbyhole were formed by the natural subsoil at the base and side of the construction trench. The front of the cubbyhole was partially blocked by a subrectangular stone, measuring 0.7m long, 0.3m high and 0.2m in thickness, and the interior was filled with collapsed subsoil material. A drystone air vent, measuring 0.25m wide by 0.2m high, extended southwards for 1.4m from a gap in the uppermost course of the southern wall of the chamber. It was formed by two parallel drystone walls, which supported two lintels stones at the north end where the vent exited the souterrain. The air vent rose gradually upwards as it exited the chamber, indicating that it reached the ground surface in the area to the south of the souterrain. However, the south terminal of the air vent appeared to have been disturbed during topsoil-stripping during construction work.
A dumb-bell-shaped kiln structure was uncovered at the east end of the souterrain. This stone-lined structure measured 6.2m in length and was orientated north to south. Both of the bowls were circular in plan and measured 1.5m in diameter by 0.4m in depth. The flue connecting the bowls measured 3.2m in length, 0.5m in width and 0.5m in depth. There was one in situ stone capstone remaining in the centre of the flue. The southern bowl was cut into the soil backfilling the souterrain entrance and a number of sherds of 19th/20th-century pottery were recovered from this backfilled material, indicating a relatively modern date for the kiln. The flue and the northern bowl were cut into the natural subsoil. The bases of both bowls were oxidised to a bright red colour, indicating burning activity at both ends of the kiln, and a number of the side stones in the bowls were also blackened from burning. There were no charcoal fragments remaining in the kiln, indicating that it was cleaned out once it went out of use. The roof and side stones at the east end of the souterrain were absent and it appeared that these stones were robbed out to construct the kiln.
The sherds of modern pottery recovered from the backfilled entrance were the only artefacts recovered from the souterrain. While the topsoil had been removed from the surrounding area, this ground-reduction work was not carried out to a sufficient depth to remove an associated enclosing feature, such as a ringfort ditch, and this souterrain was interpreted as an element of an open settlement. Another souterrain (SMR 74:64) was discovered by workers in 1909 during the course of a drainage scheme on Blackrock Road, at a distance of c. 400m to the north of the development site. There are no other recorded early medieval sites, such as ringforts or ecclesiastical sites, within a 2km radius of the souterrain. Ballintemple has been developed as a suburban centre since the 19th century and it is probable that this has resulted in the widespread removal of many archaeological sites in this area.