Furnace in Ballinvinny North

This furnace was excavated in advance of the construction of the N8 Glanmire-Watergrasshill Bypass in 2001. The small circular furnace (diam. c. 0.34m; min. D 0.07m), which had been truncated by agricultural activity, contained two fills: an upper fill of a soft, black, charcoal-rich material with a moderate amount of slag, and a lower fill which consisted of a beige-grey clayish material which was scorched in places. According to the excavator (Sherlock 2003j, 36), the slag recovered from the feature was found to derive from the processing of bog iron, though the feature cannot be firmly identified as a bowl-shaped smelting furnace. Charcoal samples were radiocarbon dated to 1990±60 BP and therefore assigned to the Iron Age. Other furnaces were excavated at a metalworking site (CO064-175----), c. 900m to the NE. (Sherlock 2003a, 26-7; 2003j) The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 5' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). Date of upload: 22 December 2009