2006:287 - Carrigane, Cork

Three sites, Carrigane 2 and 3, and Carrigane 3.1, were investigated under Ministerial Directive A035/00 in advance of the N8 road improvement scheme between Cashel, Co. Tipperary, and Mitchelstown, Co. Cork. These sites were located on low-lying land which had been drained in the 1960s, but which would originally have been wet, boggy ground.
Carrigane 2 was located on the south-facing slope of a small hill. The area of excavation measured 25m by 20m and the site consisted of four pits, which represented at least two phases of activity. Phase 1 was represented by three pits, between 1m and 2m wide and up to 0.4m deep. They were all filled with charcoal-rich material and were probably used either for cooking or for the disposal of domestic waste. Phase 2 was represented by a large (6m by 3.7m) pit. It was over 0.88m deep but could not be excavated in full due to water ingress. This indicates that the pit was probably dug as a means of water management. It was dated to the post-medieval period by a sherd of creamware.
Carrigane 3 was located 900m to the north of Carrigane 2 and the area of excavation measured 35m by 30m. The site comprised two troughs or pits and a thin spread of burnt-mound material. The trough was on the very southern end of the site. It was rectangular in plan, measuring 2.22m by 0.86m, and was 0.42m deep. The fill was very dark-brown silty sand with frequent inclusions of fire-heated stone and charcoal. The other pit was located 0.1m east of the trough. It was subcircular in plan (1.94m by 1.55m) and was 0.49m deep. There were three small stake-holes within the pit. Both the trough and the pit had been sealed by the burnt-mound material. This was a large deposit of friable black silty sand with frequent inclusions of fire-heated stone and charcoal which measured 9.2m by 9.8m, but which had been truncated by later land improvement works and was only 0.19m deep.
Carrigane 3.1 was located 50m to the south-east of Carrigane 3. The area of excavation measured 35m by 16m and the site consisted of two troughs and a mound of burnt material. One of the troughs was rectilinear in plan. It measured 2.2m by 1.8m and was 0.37m deep. It had been lined by wooden planks, which were supported by pegs in the corners of the trough. The wood was poorly preserved and the planks were evident only from the impressions they had left in the subsoil. The other trough was 3m to the west. It was subcircular in plan, measuring 7.5m by 2.5m, and was 0.7m deep. There were nine wooden stakes driven into the base of the pit. These were well preserved and most of them had toolmarks in evidence. The burnt mound measured 13.4m by at least 13.8m and extended beyond the southern CPO line. It was up to 0.44m deep.