County: Cork Site name: Ballynalackan
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 07E0551
Author: Margaret McCarthy, Archaeological Consultant, Rostellan, Midleton, Co. Cork.
Site type: No archaeological significance
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 587422m, N 600695m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.157953, -8.183812
An application to construct a single dwelling house within the constraint zone of a church (CO028–030(02)) and graveyard (CO028–030(01)) in Ballynalackan townland c. 2 miles south-east of Kilworth village led to a request for a test excavation to be undertaken. The house site was centrally positioned in a pasture field to the immediate west of the graveyard. A roughly surfaced laneway to the west of the field provides access to another monument, a vernacular house (CO028–054). The church is now extremely ruinous and, apart from a reference stating that it was the parish church of Leitrim, it has little associated historical information.
Three trenches within the archaeological zone surrounding Ballynalackan church and graveyard were excavated using a 1.5m-wide bladed bucket. The ground level was reduced in 0.1m lenses until sterile boulder clay was reached. All areas of the proposed development that were scheduled for deep excavation were tested and no evidence for early cultural deposits was uncovered.
