What is recorded here

Midden in Ballintubbrid West is a four-foot-thick ridge of oyster shells stretching 280 feet along a boulder clay cliff in County Cork. Carbon dating places human activity there between 200 BC and 1030 AD, marking centuries of coastal living. The abandoned cottage at its edge still shadows the strip where families once stripped oysters, buried charcoal, and watched the estuary breathe.

On S shoreline in estuary to N of Great Island. More than usual amount of oyster shells found on stony beach. Schlichting (1973, 17) notes 'runs west from abandoned cottage 280 feet' along top of boulder clay cliff, deposit '4 feet thick' and extends in at least '10 feet from cliff edge'. Midden consists 'principally of oyster shells', other shells in very small numbers and some charcoal. (Atkinson 1874, 258, no. 1). A C14 date of 1050 +/- 50 bp (calibrated date range 820 – 1030 AD) was recovered from oyster shell at the top (Laboratory: Beta 155384) and a C14 date of 2000 +/- 50 bp (calibrated date range 200 BC – 30AD) was recovered from oyster shell at the base of this midden (Laboratory: Beta 155385 ) (Milner & Woodman 2007, 103). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 2: East and South Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1994). In this instance the entry has been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Revised by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 25 June 2012

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