County: Cork Site name: Peter Murray site, Knockeencon
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 16E0241
Author: Stephen A. Brighton and Andrew J. Webster
Site type: Post-Medieval
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 508921m, N 527194m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.490040, -9.311580
Historical Archaeology of Nineteenth-Century Ireland: Excavations of 19th-Century Cabins At The Peter Murray Site, Knockeencon, County Cork, Ireland
The 2016 excavation at the Peter Murray site is part of a larger research project, directed by Dr Stephen A. Brighton of the University of Maryland, delving into the impacts of Ireland's Great Hunger or Famine period (1847 - 1854) on daily life up to the first decades of the 20th century. The investigations took place on private property belonging to Peter Murray. The property is located along the border of Ballinard and Knockeencon in the Lough Hyne area of County Cork. The property contains a standing ruin of a cabin associated with the Driscoll family. It was inhabited from the early 19th century up to the first decade of the 20th century. The Driscoll family are considered strong farmers and kept tenants on their property. The Griffith Valuation map of 1842 illustrates the presence of six single-room cabins next to the Driscoll cabin and by 1890s are removed from the landscape.
The aim of the 2016 fieldwork was to test the area in front of the standing ruin to determine if any below surface traces of the smaller landless-tenant cabin exist. The fieldwork consisted of five 2m x 1m excavation units averaging a depth of 1m. Although historic surface was identified, no evidence of the cabins were found. The artifacts recovered consisted of ceramic and glass sherds ranging in date from the early 19th century up to the late 20th century.
University of Maryland, Department of Anthropology, 0132 Woods Hall, College Park, Maryland 20742
