County: Cork Site name: ROSSLINE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: CO023-00802 Licence number: 14E0062
Author: Enda O'Mahony
Site type: Ringfort
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 528574m, N 594068m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.093912, -9.042397
The line of the driveway and house were plotted by the client prior to the arrival of the excavator. Six trenches were to be opened in total. Trench 1 was to follow the layout of the driveway and ran north-south. Trenches 2-4 run east-west and are in the proposed septic tank soak pit area. Trenches 5 and 6 run east-west and are located on the footprint of the house. A buffer zone of 80m was created from the south-eastern corner of the field in the approximate location of the ringfort (CO023-00802). No works are going to be carried out in this area. The buffer zone will be harrowed and set with lawn seed and will become the client’s front garden. The buffer zone required that the septic tank be moved 25m north of its proposed location and outside this buffer zone.
The site was stripped using a 13-tonne track machine using a flat bucket. The layer of humic organic material and topsoil was removed in layers to expose the underlying subsoil. The driveway, house foundations and septic tank area were topsoil stripped.
The layer of humic material and topsoil had a maximum depth of 0.2m. The underlying horizon was a mottled yellow grey clay, very compact with a low density of stone inclusions. The subsoil was uniform throughout the site. Plough marks were present in the subsoil and ran east-west. No archaeology was found during the course of the works.
Gortageen, Millstreet, Co Cork
