2025:269 - Pulleen (Kanturk), Cork

In 2023, nine test-trenches were excavated across a proposed residential development site by John Cronin & Associates (Licence 23E0384). Two areas of potential archaeological interest were identified; the remains of ‘much destroyed’ limekiln, recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map, and a single pit filled with charcoal.

A conditional grant of planning has been permitted for the residential development, which required ‘preservation by record’ of a single pit and the remains of the destroyed limekiln.

Excavation by Lane Purcell Archaeology confirmed that the remains of the limekiln were considerably more intact. In fact, it was established that the evidence discovered in the 2023 test-trenches were not the limekiln or walls thereof, but the associated demolition rubble. The foundations of the structure were uncovered several metres further west, outside the trenches excavated in 2023. The surviving features include the slanted lintel and stoke-hole/the flue break and entrance, along with brick-built kiln bowl. No secure dating evidence was uncovered during the excavation, however a late 18th-/early 19th-century date is likely. It was proposed to retain the surviving structure within the new development, details of which are ongoing.
The pit identified in Test-trench 8 was fully excavated. It contained a large amount of charcoal and some in-situ burning. It may have functioned as a small cooking pit.