2009:423 - AGHACURREEN, Kerry

After a chance discovery during land-drainage works, the site of a medieval horizontal mill was identified at Aghacurreen, Killarney, Co. Kerry. The site was subsequently assessed and recorded on behalf of the National Monuments Service of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
The in situ remains comprise four floorboards and a sole plate of the undercroft of the mill. Six timbers had been removed by the reclamation works on discovery. After the assessment was carried out, the removed timbers were reburied at the site, which was covered with a geotextile membrane before being backfilled by track machine.
When the site was discovered during excavation of a land drain, the landowner immediately stopped excavating with the track machine. This left an overburden of loose soil which was removed by hand at the start of the assessment of the site. This material was removed to the top layer of in situ archaeology. The cessation of the excavation of the land drain left an east-facing baulk that was also cleaned back to establish the stratigraphic build-up over the site. Two small cuttings were excavated by hand across the site to aid the assessment of the remaining archaeology. At the base of the baulk an in situ timber was revealed. This proved to be a sole plate delimiting the western extent of the undercroft. This sole plate was further revealed in Cutting 1.
Cutting 1 was a linear slot that measured 1m (east–west) by 0.3m by 0.8m in depth and showed that archaeological deposits extend westwards subsurface beyond the baulk. Cutting 2 was an L-shaped slot and had maximum dimensions of 1.6m (north–south) by 1.25m by 0.35m in depth. Cutting 2 revealed three in situ floorboards of the undercroft extending eastwards from (and parallel to) the sole plate. A fourth, disturbed, floorboard was also revealed. This floorboard was damaged at one end by the machine during excavation of the drain.
The full extent (length) of the sole plate and the in situ floorboards was not established and as a result only limited dimensions could be recorded. The sole plate has dimensions of 0.42m in height and 0.24m in width. One of the floorboards extends beneath the sole plate. The remaining two floorboards are on average 0.3m in width and 0.1m in thickness. The disturbed (fully exposed) floorboard is 1.12m long, 0.3m wide and 0.1m thick. The maximum remaining width of the in situ undercroft (east–west) is 0.93m.
The remaining stratigraphy recorded at the site consists of a single deposit of mottled dark-brownishgrey silty clay (C.8) overlying the undercroft. This deposit extends westwards to the east face of the sole plate, essentially terminating at the baulk. The stratigraphy recorded in the baulk section comprised mid-brownish-grey silty clay (C.6) overlying the sole plate of the undercroft, a light-grey silty clay (C.5) overlying C.6 and a dark-bluish-grey silty clay (C.7) overlying C.5. The deposits C.5–8 are archaeological and related to the undercroft of the mill. Overlying these deposits is the topsoil, which is cut by a modern stone-lined field drain. A further, localised deposit (C.9) comprising dark-grey gravelly silty clay was recorded in Cutting 1 underlying C.5. The deposit C.9 is found outside the undercroft, which is delimited by the west face of the sole plate.
The maximum dimensions of the archaeological deposits recorded at the site are 3.2m (north–south) by 3m. A limit was established to the east and south by the excavation of the recent reclamation drain, while the archaeology continues north in the side of the drain and to the west, as evidenced by the results of Cutting 1.
The six ex situ timbers were cleaned, recorded and drawn before reburial at the site. Timber 1 is a plank with maximum dimensions of 2.02m in length, 0.3m in width and 0.11m in thickness. There is a rebate on one side that is almost centrally disposed and is 0.25m in width and 0.02m in depth. Both ends are cut at an angle. At 0.1m from one end there is a single circular aperture in the thickness of the plank on both sides. The apertures have average dimensions of 25mm in diameter and 30mm deep. Timber 2 is a plank with maximum dimensions of 2.28m in length, 0.29m in width and 0.1m in thickness. Both ends are cut at an angle. At 0.1m from one end there is a single circular aperture in the thickness of the plank on both sides. The apertures have average dimensions of 30mm in diameter and 40mm deep. Timber 3 is a plank with maximum dimensions of 2.3m in length, 0.29m in width and 0.1m in thickness. Both ends are cut at an angle. There are no apertures. Timber 4 is a plank which is broken off at one end. It has maximum dimensions of 1.8m in length, 0.2m in width and 0.07m in thickness. One end of the plank is well preserved. At 0.2m from this end is a centrally disposed circular hole measuring 50mm in diameter. Between that hole and the edge of the plank there is another circular hole, measuring 58mm in diameter. At a distance of 0.2m from the holes there is evidence of an oval hole 70mm in width and of uncertain length (broken off) that is off-centre to the plank. At the broken-off end of the plank there is evidence of another circular hole with a diameter of 70mm. Timber 5 is a ragged piece of timber that is likely to have broken off a plank but it could not be matched to any of the other timbers. It has maximum dimensions of 1.28m in length by 0.1m in width by 0.08m in thickness. Timber 6 is a large beam with a tenon joint at one end and the other end has been cut to a point. It has a maximum length of 2.76m. The maximum width and thickness are at the tenon end and are 0.33m and 0.25m respectively. The pointed end is square in profile and is 0.28m in width. The tenon measures 0.34m in length, 0.17m in width and 0.09m in thickness. There is a broken circular peg-hole at the end of the tenon that measures 0.1m in diameter.

It appears that Timbers 1–3 may represent planks from the walls of the undercroft, that Timber 4 is a tentering arm that would have held the wheel shaft and that Timber 6 is a possible corner upright of the undercroft that would have been fixed into a sole plate. Post-excavation analysis and research into the site and the timbers is ongoing. No artefacts were discovered. A dendrochronological sample was taken from Timber 3 with a view to hopefully assigning a date to the site.