County: Kerry Site name: Carhoobeg Townland
Sites and Monuments Record No.: Vicinity of KE065-008--- Licence number: —
Author: Frank Coyne
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 485522m, N 593035m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.077403, -9.670119
A proposed location of dwelling house lies adjacent to RMP KE065-008----, souterrain. The exact location of this souterrain is unknown; information from the landowner suggests that it is located somewhere in a field approximately 100m to the south of the proposed house site.
A total of 6 trenches were excavated at this site in order to identify if there was any archaeological material or structures in the proposed area of development.
Trench 1 (13m NW-SE, 1m wide, depth 0.5m) consisting of topsoil on orange boulder clay. This was located across the possible location of the souterrain. No trace of the souterrain or any archaeological features was noted.
Trench 2 (2m NE-SW, 1m wide, depth 0.5m) consisting of topsoil on orange boulder clay. This was located across the possible location of the souterrain. No trace of the souterrain or any archaeological features was noted.
Trench 3 (17m NE-SW, 1m wide, depth 0.35m) consisting of topsoil on orange boulder clay, and was positioned across the proposed percolation area.
Trench 4 (19m NW-SE, 1m wide, depth 0.35m) consisting of topsoil on orange boulder clay, and was positioned across the proposed percolation area.
Trench 5 (9m E-W, 1m wide, depth 0.3m) consisting of topsoil on orange boulder clay, and was located across the area of the proposed house.
Trench 6 (13m NW-SE, 1m wide, depth 0.3m) consisting of topsoil on orange boulder clay, and was located across the area of the proposed house.
No archaeological features were noted during the test trenching on the subject site.
No trace of KE065-008---- (souterrain) was noted. The description on www.archaeology.ie , which was derived from The Iveragh Peninsula: An Archaeological Survey of South Kerry (O’Sullivan & Sheehan 1996, 226) contains the following description;
‘Located in level pasture a short distance W of the Laune river, this souterrain, not marked on the OS maps, was filled in during the 1950s (local information). No surface trace remains’.
Discussion with the landowner has suggested that the location of the souterrain was never known, and that although there was a tradition of a souterrain in the field some distance to the south of the proposed house location (approximately 100m). Local tradition suggests that that a horse fell in to a souterrain, which was then filled in with rocks and stones. The date of this event is not known.
Aegis archaeology Ltd, 32 nicholas st, King's Island, Limerick
