2005:171 - BALLYBROWNEY LOWER, Cork

Monitoring took place of works within previously untested or unresolved locations along the route of the new N8 Rathcormac–Fermoy bypass between June 2004 and March 2005. These works took place both within and outside the extents of the compulsory purchase order. External works were monitored by Laurence Dunne (Excavations 2004, No. 256) under licence 04E0948, while internal works were appointed individual works numbers by the project archaeologist.

As part of the accommodations works for the bypass, Cork County Council is required to provide right-of-way farm access through lands belonging to a landowner in Ballybrowney Lower, Rathcormac. The proposed route of the track ran between the outer enclosing elements of a trivallate ringfort and a nearby field boundary to its north. Test-trenching in this area revealed that the outer bank of the ringfort, despite having been damaged by the creation of a trackway adjacent to the southern edge of the field boundary, was substantively intact. Also present was an east–west-running French drain, related to and running parallel to the trackway, and a stone revetment that buttressed the raised part of the trackway.

To the east of the ringfort was situated a large Bronze Age/Iron Age site (Excavations 2003, No. 149, 03E1058) that included four enclosures, three circular houses and a medieval corn-drying kiln (Cotter 2005, 38). A segment of this enclosure ditch had previously been excavated by Eamonn Cotter. This enclosure extended into the area that had been purchased to provide access. A geophysical survey carried out by Earthsound Ltd had identified a possible subrectangular enclosure which closely matched the segment of Iron Age ditch previously excavated. The test-trench layout was designed to test the veracity of this theory.
Three groups of trenches were excavated, numbering fourteen in total. The Iron Age enclosure was found to correspond closely with the subrectangular anomaly identified in the geophysical survey. Sections were excavated in the enclosure ditch on its eastern, northern and western sides. The morphology of the enclosure was found to remain roughly consistent over its course. The width varied from 1.55 to 1.7m and the depth varied from 0.4 to 0.5m. No diagnostic material was encountered. The enclosure measures c. 20m by 24m.

Reference
Cotter, E. 2005 Bronze Age Ballybrowney County Cork. In National Roads Authority, Recent Archaeological Discoveries on National Road Schemes 2004.

Ballycurreen Industrial Estate, Kinsale Road, Cork