County: Cork Site name: Douglas Street, Cork
Sites and Monuments Record No.: CO074-044---- Licence number: 17E0163
Author: Aidan Harte
Site type: Adjacent to Burial Ground
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 567657m, N 571301m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.892930, -8.469903
Test trenching was carried out on 27 and 28 April 2017, at the rear of 24-28, Douglas Street, Cork, as part of an Archaeological Impact Assessment in advance of the design stage of a proposed development. This is within the zone of archaeological potential of the historic town of Cork City (CO074-034001-) but also adjacent to the site of a church (CO074-044----). The latter is one of the postulated locations of the church of St John the Baptist. From the 18th century, the adjacent site is depicted on various maps as ‘St. John’s Burying Ground’, consistently located to the west of the current site.
Six test trenches were excavated across the proposed development site – a total of 85 linear metres. Within the vast majority of the site was found only 19th/20th-century material throughout the topsoil layer, which overlay natural subsoil. In addition to numerous modern machine-dug refuse pits, two probable 19th-century refuse pits were found at the southern part of the site. At the western part of the site, an earlier boundary wall had been mostly removed and only the northern end of this wall has survived.
At Trench 2, mid-way along the western side of the site, the line of this earlier boundary wall was identified as a linear cut, where the masonry had been ‘robbed-out’. Immediately to the west of the ‘robbed-out’ wall, a grave cut was found. All work was stopped at this point as two distinct sets of cranial fragments were identified in situ, with associated coffin nails and a metal coffin handle. Another possible grave cut was also visible in the western end of this trench, although no human remains were visible. The burial was reported, recorded and all elements of the graves remained undisturbed. A breathable membrane was laid over the trench prior to backfilling.
Other trenches at the western side of the site did not extend beyond the postulated line of the earlier boundary and no further burials were encountered. The earlier boundary of St John’s burial ground is therefore offset 2m to the east from the present site boundary. It may be assumed from the information gained in test trenching that burials occupy this space on the west side of the former boundary. It has been recommended that a suitable buffer zone be maintained to protect these burials.
Munster Archaeology, Upper Kilmoney Rd, Carrigaline, Co. Cork
