What is recorded here

Under the Ballycatten ringfort, three rock-cut chambers wait in darkness, their narrow walls leaning outward like lungs preparing to breathe. People chipped refectory scraps, limpets and animal bones into the holes, turning sacred ground into a hungry mouth that swallowed the remains of ordinary life. A bronze fragment and an axe head still rest in the sediment, proving the pit collected more than rubbish. It kept the discarded sparks of human time, waiting for patience to call them back.

In ringfort (CO124-034001-); one of three Man-made underground passages (CO124-034002-; CO124-034003-) discovered during excavation (Ó Ríordáin and Hartnett 1943, 13-7). Three rectangular chambers, mostly rock-cut; where stone walling occurred it has outward batter. Chamber 1: (L 2.03m; Wth 1.21m; H 1.05m); other chambers of similar dimensions. Excavators suggest Man-made underground passage was unroofed and may have served as refuse pit. Fill of humus in all chambers and dump of limpets and periwinkles in chamber 1. Large amount of animal bones and teeth also. Finds: fragment of bronze plate, axe head (dated 11th-16th century), wall brad. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 2: East and South Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1994). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

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