2025:168 - Stag Park, Mitchelstown, Cork

This archaeological impact assessment was undertaken on lands at Stag Park, Mitchelstown, Co. Cork. The c.1.63ha site is located immediately west of the Stag Park housing estate and comprises a single rectangular greenfield. The assessment, undertaken in March 2025 by Mary Henry Archaeological Services Ltd., recommended a programme of pre-construction archaeological testing.

The test excavation was undertaken on 4 & 7 July 2025. A total of 9 trenches measuring 255 linear meters (510 sq. m) were mechanically excavated across the site under constant archaeological supervision.

The entire site was covered in a deep layer of construction spoil overburden, C1. In the 2006 aerial photographs the neighbouring housing estate was under construction. Large parts of this subject area were then under spoil dumps and heavily tracked. C1 is a result of this spoil dumping. It comprises a dense mix of redeposited natural subsoil (orange-brown clay with frequent stones) and modern detritus. In Trenches 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 & 9 this layer directly overlaid subsoil while in Trenches 3, 6 & 7 it overlay the original ground surface and measured from 0.5 to 1.3m deep. Subsoil was uniform across the entire site. It comprised a pinkish-orange compact stoney clay.

In Trenches 3, 6 & 7 the overburden overlay the Original Ground Surface. This was recorded as a band of dark brown or blackish-grey clay which represents the buried turf layer. It overlaid the subsoil in this area. Elsewhere it appears that the Original Ground Surface may have been topsoil stripped during the construction of the neighbouring estate. The trenches which contained this layer (Trench 3, 6 & 7) were the deepest across the site measuring between 1.3-1.75m.

The easternmost trenches (Trenches 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 & 9) all contained a large ditch (C6) aligned north-south. It was cut through subsoil and measured 2-3m wide x 1.5-1.75m deep. It had a single, modern fill which was the same as C1. This ditch can be seen in 2006 Aerial Photographs as a large, freshly-cut ditch, cut through the topsoil-stripped subject area.

Only Trench 3 had additional features. A modern stone-filled agricultural drain (C4) and a single plough furrow (C5) were also recorded in this trench.

Nothing of archaeological significance was recorded during the archaeological testing works. It is clear the subject area underwent heavy landscaping comprising spoil dumps, topsoil stripping and the excavation of a large ditch around 2006 when the neighbouring housing estate was constructed.