2014:449 - GARRANES: Lisnamanroe, Cork

A fourth season of excavation was conducted at the levelled monument of Lisnamanroe, located in Garranes townland, Co. Cork. The site is a low-relief, circular, earthwork enclosure, adjacent to the well-known trivallate ringfort of Lisnacaheragh, Garranes. Excavation of a single trench was conducted over a four-week period in May 2014. This confirmed that the original enclosure consisted of a shallow ditch and a low internal bank, inside which there was a light wooden fence. The interior of the enclosure was cultivated in the early modern era, with spade-dug lazy-beds disturbing the early occupation surface. There was limited evidence of occupation inside this part of the enclosure, with a single post-hole and slot trench hinting at built structures of early date. There were no early artefact finds, apart from a corroded iron object of uncertain type from the enclosure ditch, One significant discovery is a narrow slot trench that is stratigraphically earlier than the enclosure bank and fence. This is the first indication of pre-enclosure activity at Lisnamanroe.