2007:261 - BOHERASH, Glanworth, Cork

A test excavation was undertaken at Boherash, Glanworth, in advance of the construction of two local authority houses in the village. The proposed development is located within the archaeological constraint zone of the historic town (CO027–042(05)). The site lies on the north-eastern outskirts of the village to the immediate east of a row of local authority housing. The Dominican priory and Glanworth Castle are clearly visible to the south, and to the south-west is a graveyard within which there is a derelict church.

Two test-trenches were placed in the central area of the development across the long axes of the houses that will face eastwards towards the public road. The topsoil consisted of mid-brown virtually stone-free sediment, which varied in depth considerably from the north end of the site to the south, due to the redeposition of topsoil in this area of the site during construction work on the nearby houses. The central area of the trench contained very large amounts of modern domestic debris and the field seemed to have been utilised over a considerable period of time for refuse disposal. The underlying subsoil consisted of firm yellow/brown clay with occasional small and medium-sized stones. No features or finds of archaeological importance were noted during the excavation of these test-trenches.

A further test-trench was placed across the parking area to the front of the houses and this measured 5m in length. In places, the topsoil cover reached a depth of almost 1m before the natural orange/brown stony clay was encountered and, again, it was clear that soil had been introduced into this area during construction work on the adjacent local authority housing. The underlying clay subsoil contained frequent large boulders and no features or finds of archaeological significance were encountered.