2011:076 - ARDRAH AND MAUGHANACLEA, Cork

NMI Burial Excavation Records

County: Cork Site name: ARDRAH AND MAUGHANACLEA

Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 11E0444

Author: Ellen OCarroll

Site type: Various

Period/Dating:

ITM: E 508401m, N 556178m

Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.750435, -9.326653

Testing of a number of potential archaeological features at the location of a proposed five-turbine wind farm with ancillary works in the townlands of Ardrah and Maughanaclea, Bantry, was carried out in December 2011. The potential features were identified during a site walk-over undertaken as part of an Environmental Impact Assessment in July 2010. Testing was carried out on foot of a Further Information Request issued by Cork County Council.

Four trenches were excavated. No archaeology was noted in Trench 1, located in Maughanaclea townland. This area was initially highlighted during cartographic research as the location of a possible feature that appeared to enclose a burial ground (CO106-012001) and cairn (CO106-012002), but physical changes in the immediate landscape meant that no trace of this possible enclosure survived. No archaeological features were present in the trench. Testing also showed that a natural knoll in the southern part of Ardrah townland was adapted for use as an enclosure and may be modern in date (Trench 2). It may have been associated with low, sod-covered walls that survive on its eastern and western sides. The remains of an L-shaped drystone wall were also identified in Ardrah townland (Trench 3). Although no datable finds were uncovered, the wall pre-dates an extant field boundary marked on the first edition of the OS 6in. map, dated to 1842. A fourth potential feature, comprising a single semi-upright stone, was found to be non-archaeological (Trench 4).

Although the drystone wall identified in Trench 3 will not be directly affected by proposed development works, it lies quite close to the proposed access road. It was recommended that a buffer zone of 10m be established to protect it from damage during the construction phase. Monitoring of the remainder of the site was recommended for any future works.

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