County: Cork Site name: McSwiney Quay, Bandon
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 17E0111
Author: Julianna O'Donoghue
Site type: Urban
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 549045m, N 555102m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.745944, -8.737907
Monitoring of groundworks was undertaken at McSwiney Quay, Bandon, Co. Cork associated with the realignment of ESB power cables. The project was undertaken between January and April 2017. Three features of archaeological significance were recorded during monitoring.
The sub-surface remains of a stone wall (F1) were recorded in the east-west trench excavated along the southern side of McSwiney Quay. It is constructed of roughly coursed rubble, bonded with a lime mortar. Ten courses were visible, and the wall extended below the depth of the trench (1.2m) and continued eastwards and westwards beyond the limit of the excavation. There are buildings at this location on the 2nd and 3rd edition OS maps and it is possible that this wall represents one of these buildings. Alternatively, it may have functioned as an abutment for the series of large culverts running under McSwiney Quay and exiting into the Bandon River.
A section of a culvert (F2) was recorded in the trench. The structure consists of stone walls with an arched stone roof. It was constructed of sandstone bonded with lime mortar and it is aligned north-north-west/south-south-east. The culvert is one of seven such structures which exit onto the Bandon River at McSwiney Quay. The culverts provided access to the Bandon River during the 19th and early 20th century, facilitating the drawing of water for domestic and industrial purposes. The culvert is adequately large to have facilitated a horse-drawn cart as well as pedestrian access. The overall length and the precise location of the entrance of these culverts/river access-ways remains unknown.
The basal remains of a wall (F3) were recorded in a north-south orientated trench on McSwiney Quay, beside the entrance gate to Bandon Credit Union carpark. The wall was orientated north-north-west/south-south-east. The upper surviving course of the wall was removed to allow for the installation of ducting. The first edition OS map of 1841 depicts a north-north-west/south-south-east orientated building at this location.
Mizen Archaeology, 61 Lady's Cross, Clonakilty, Co. Cork
