2016:682 - BALLYSHANE, Cork

Test trenching was carried out on the site on foot of a grant of planning permission for a proposed dwelling house. Topsoil in the area had been removed several years previously following a grant of planning permission, without archaeological conditions, for a development which had not gone ahead. On cartographic evidence it appeared that the proposed development would encroach on a recorded monument, a levelled enclosure.

Trench A was excavated across the projected line of the enclosure ditch. A 5m wide ditch was revealed. Its depth was not established. Trench B was excavated further to the west, also on the projected line of the enclosure ditch. However no archaeology was found in this trench, suggesting that the test trench coincidentally ran through the undug entrance to the enclosure. Two other trenches were excavated outside the enclosure, across the footprint of the proposed development. No further archaeological features were noted.