2005:226 - CORK: 40–48 Main Street South, Cork

The excavation which commenced at this site adjacent to the South Gate Bridge in the south-eastern quadrant of the walled medieval city in 2003 finished in May 2004. (In 2004, excavation also took place at this site under the direction of Deborah Sutton; see Excavations 2004, No. 236, 04E0132.)

The earliest structure at the site was an east–west boundary fence of upright timbers (felling date AD 1097/98) driven into the natural reed marsh. The ground level on both sides of the fence was then raised by c. 1.2m, using local muds and clays to create a dry platform. Between c. 1100 and 1140 a series of east–west-aligned Hiberno-Norse type houses were built in four (later five) plots on the clay platform (portions of nineteen houses were excavated and there were up to four phases of houses). At least seven Type 1 houses and one definite Type 2 house were excavated (house types based on Wallace’s 1992 classification). The houses were built three deep to the east of what was probably a north–south-running track or street. The 12th-century street-front was not exposed during the excavations and lies under the modern South Main Street.

The size of the Type 1 houses recorded ranged from 27.2 m2 to 69.75 m2, i.e. an average of 43.13 m2. The only definite Type 2 house (12) measured 16.28 m2. The post-and-wattle houses share the characteristics of those found in Dublin, Waterford, Wexford and most recently in Cork. They were rectangular with rounded corners, central hearths and internal divisions and, with one exception, the doorways were in the shorter end walls. All but one of the surviving doorways had wedge-shaped jambs, and threshold timbers were present in four doorways. There was no evidence for roof supports in any of the houses and, although the jambs must have served a load-bearing function, the configuration of the other roof timbers is unknown. It may be that the timbers were taken down and reused after each phase of occupation.

The post-and wattle houses were superseded by timber-framed houses (four examples were excavated), of which only the composite basepads and some large upright posts remained. The upright timbers had a date range of AD 1145–1156.

The finds from the house levels are typical of the period: carved and lathe-turned wooden artefacts, bone combs, hone stones, stick pins, a scale balance and pans, barrel padlock and keys, weights, leather shoes, crucible fragments, etc. The earliest pottery is from south-west England (Cornish, Bath A and south-east Wiltshire) and France (Normandy).

Environmental analysis identified plant types associated with both the man-made and natural environment at the site. The animal bone is comparable with other assemblages from the period; however, there are some indications that a higher standard and diversity of food was consumed by the inhabitants than those in other parts of the city; i.e. venison, veal and lamb, and a more varied range of fish and bird species. A sturgeon scale and a number of white-tailed eagle bones are noteworthy.

A dumped deposit from a level associated with industrial or craft activity at the turn of the 13th century produced 4kg of copper-smelting slag, providing a unique example of urban copper smelting in Ireland (Fairburn 2005). Vitrified clay lining and hammer slag associated with iron working were also recovered.

The strata from the late 12th to 17th century were destroyed by post-medieval activity. Stone walls and associated drains of 17th-century date were recorded and what is possibly the only Irish silk stocking from an archaeological context was recovered from a 17th-century pit, which also contained scraps of silk, wool and flax, a stone mortar and an almost complete Frechen ‘Bartmann’ jug. Some structures associated with the 19th-century brewery at the site were also recorded.

Reference
Fairburn, N. 2005 Assessment of industrial residues from excavations at 40–48 South Main St, Cork. Unpublished specialist report.

Editor’s note: Although completed in 2004, the summary of this site did not arrive in time for inclusion in the bulletin of that year.

Deanrock Business Park, Togher, Cork