County: Kerry Site name: Darrynane More
Sites and Monuments Record No.: KE106-074--- Licence number: 13E0379
Author: Frank Coyne
Site type: Post-medieval walls
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 0m, N 0m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.763351, -10.141813
Monitoring of groundworks associated with the re-development of Derrynane House, the ancestral home of Daniel O’Connell, was carried out intermittently over 5 days in September and October 2013.
The present Derrynane House consists of several blocks added over time to the original early 18th-century house (now demolished), and located in a demesne which is now part of Derrynane National Park. The house was occupied by direct descendants of Daniel O'Connell until 1948, when the estate was handed over to the Derrynane Trust. It was then presented to the State in 1964. In 1967 the house was opened as a museum. The original early 18th-century house seems to have been a two-storey (or possibly three-storey) building facing north. When Daniel O'Connell inherited this from his uncle in 1825, he commenced building a two-storey L-shaped block to the south, and in 1844, O'Connell constructed a chapel to the east of the original house.
It is known that there are large areas of rock surrounding the buildings. It was expected however that the footprint of the earlier 18th-century house might be uncovered in the tearoom courtyard. However, no trace of the house was uncovered in this area, and it appears to have been completely obliterated in the demolition of the 1960s. All that remains appears to be a patch of white mortar staining uncovered in the courtyard area.
Removal of the top sod and soil in the area of the 18th-century house revealed that the bedrock was immediately below the surface. It appears that the house was built directly on this, and so the demolition in the 1960s completely removed any trace of this structure. No structural features or archaeological deposits were noted in service trenches which ran to the north of the courtyard area, and also to the west of the service block.
Three stretches of wall foundation were uncovered to the north-west of the chapel area, which correspond to structures on the OS 1st edition map c. 1840. Only the lowest courses of these wall survived, and were below the construction level of the courtyard area, and so are preserved in situ. The base of a wall was also uncovered to the east of the chapel, and seems to be the remains of a garden wall, probably late 19th-century in date. Excavation for a lift shaft was also monitored, but no structures or archaeological layers were uncovered. No other features were uncovered during the monitoring.
Aegis Archaeology Ltd, 32 Nicholas Street, King’s Island, Limerick.
