County: Cork Site name: Whitechutch, Dromgarriff South
Sites and Monuments Record No.: - Licence number: 21E0152
Author: John O'Connor for Rubicon Heritage Services Ltd
Site type: Test trenching, pits
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 562694m, N 581885m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.987756, -8.543153
A programme of archaeological test trenching was undertaken at Dromgarriff South, near the village of Whitechurch in Co. Cork on behalf of Amarenco Solar Ltd. in response to a request for further information from Cork County Council. This was in relation to a planning application for the development of a solar PV array, which covered approximately 7.13 ha.
The programme of archaeological testing comprised the excavation of 33 trenches with a total length of 2960m. The objective of the testing programme was to establish the nature, character, extent, and significance of the anomalies identified during a preceding geophysical survey. In addition, this programme of testing also sought to test areas where no anomalies were indicated by the geophysics, in order to examine the reliability of these results.
Although the anomalies identified during the geophysical survey were determined to be natural variations in the underlying subsoil, archaeological deposits were identified in Trenches 23 and 23c. These deposits comprised the remains of four pits filled with heat-affected stone. The programme of archaeological test trenching also identified a number of field boundaries that are marked on both the First Edition 6-inch and 25-inch Ordnance Survey maps, along with frequent field drains and agricultural furrows.
Unit 2, Europa Business Park, Midleton, Co. Cork, P25 TV25
