What is recorded here

Twenty stake-holes emerged in 2003 beside a corn-drying kiln, their circular shadows scattered without pattern across the soil. Charcoal and heat-shattered stones filled nearby pits, suggesting fires raged where people once worked the land. The holes may have held tents, shelters or temporary markers, yet no wall or roof remains to confirm their purpose. They wait beneath the bypass, twenty empty sockets pointing to a life that vanished before the road was cut.

A concentration of twenty stake-holes were excavated in 2003 in advance of the construction of the N8 Rathcormac-Fermoy Bypass. The stake-holes ranged in size (av. diam. 0.1-0.9m; av. D 0.1-0.9m) and were mainly circular or subcircular in plan. They were clustered immediately to the W of a corn-drying kiln (CO035-133----) but no discernible pattern was apparent. According to the excavator (O'Connell 2006i, 39), there were no stratigraphic or spatial evidence to group these features in association with the kiln. A number of dispersed pits were also recorded in this area. The fill of one of these pits contained frequent charcoal inclusions and occasional heat-shattered stones. A number of artefacts including metal, pottery and a fragment of a rotary quernstone were also included in the fill. (O'Connell 2006h, 59; 2006i) The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 5' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). Date of upload: 22 December 2009

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.