2016:631 - BANDON: Bandon Flood Relief Scheme, Gully, Coolfadda townlands, Cork

The Office of Public Works is undertaking a major flood alleviation scheme in the west Cork town of Bandon – Bandon Flood Relief Scheme. The works for the scheme are two-fold, involving works 1) in the River Bandon from the centre of the historic town to 3.6km to the east and 2) on dry land in the historic town centre and its environs. Ministerial Consent C578 was granted for archaeological works within the Zone of Archaeological Potential in the town of Bandon, under excavation licence (E4481). Work is ongoing.

Bandon town is situated on the north and south banks of the Bandon River in West Cork and developed during the early years of the 17th century. It was built on lands confiscated following the Desmond Rebellion of the late 16th century and was the most important town of the early Munster Plantation. A bridge very probably existed on the site of the town of Bandon given that its Irish name was Droichead Uí Mhallahamhna, also referred to as Mahon Bridge. The town developed on either side of the river, the area of the north side being known as Coolfadda. The two areas were joined by a bridge. The walls enclosing the town were built by the 1620s when the town was under the control of the Earl of Cork. By 1622 it was one of the largest plantation towns in Ireland. Archaeological work commenced on the scheme at the beginning of September, 2016 and comprised monitoring, testing and architectural recording.

Bandos historic mill on the north bank of the river was one of its main features in the 17th century. Monitoring took place at Mill Place where an east-west revetment pile wall is to be built as part of the flood defence scheme. Engineers’ trial pits were monitored here in September 2016 and revealed that the ground in this area, currently the recreation area of the Cluid building, was reclaimed from the river and built up with infill.

A north-south revetment pile wall was also proposed to run north-south at Mill Place to the west of the Cluid building. This new wall was positioned very close to the west line of the 17th-century town wall and hand digging in this area was recommended by NMS. It was decided to test the trench in advance to locate any features related to the town wall. Testing revealed a stone wall abutting the town wall which was found to be part of a 19th-century revetment wall predating the reclamation of the area.

On the south side of the river, opposite Mill Place is McSwiney Quay. Here, a portion of the quay wall was to be removed to accommodate a new footbridge as part of the scheme. An arched culvert was present on McSwiney Quay at the point of the abutment for the new footbridge and probably dated to the late 18th century. Survey and investigation of the McSwiney Quay culvert took place on 9 September. While it was not possible to dismantle and enter the culvert for safety reasons, the culvert was partly opened and examined from photographs taken of its interior. The face of the culvert and adjacent quay wall to the west was drawn at 1:20 scale. The culvert was subsequently opened and investigated from the road in November 2016 when it was located during monitoring during digging for new drainage pipes.

Monitoring and metal detecting took place on Brady’s lane and other areas of the scheme within the Zone of Archaeological potential. Though post-medieval pottery, glass and pipe stems came to light, there were no metal finds apart from debris. The archaeological work on the scheme continues.