2021:006 - N73 Annakisha Realignment Scheme, Annakisha South 2, Cork

Annakisha South 2 was located on the proposed N73 Annakisha Realignment Scheme, near Mallow, Co. Cork. The site consisted of three separate areas situated in three field corners at a crossroads (Torpy’s Cross) on the current N73.
The excavation, which was carried out on behalf of Cork County Council/Transport Infrastructure Ireland, revealed a number of early modern walls, wall foundations, pits and drains, along with undated pits and natural features. Finds of 18th- to 20th-century pottery and glass were recovered, along with corroded iron objects and iron slag that clearly derive from a smithy shown immediately outside the site on the mid-19th-century Ordnance Survey map. Evidence for smithing was found in the form of smithing hearth cakes, some of which bear impressions from an iron tuyere. Anthracite and bituminous coal (culm) were found and likely fuelled the smithy, perhaps also using timber from oak, ash, hazel, beech, and blackthorn.
The archaeological features and deposits within the footprint of the road development were fully excavated, although the features could be seen to extend beyond the scheme boundary at the south. The excavated areas were backfilled and reinstated.

Ahish, Ballinruan, Crusheen, Co. Clare