What is recorded here

Dromdowney Lower holds a tangled ribbon of low banks and shallow fosses linking a moated site, church enclosure and burial ground. The earthwork stretches south through wet ground, marking boundaries or pathways for people who lived beside water and death. Its lines still cut across the field, inviting imagination about the hands that shaped them and the reasons they joined sacred places.

This earthwork is referred to in the 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork - vol. 4 North Cork' (2000, 495) under the entry (no. 14200) for a moated site (CO024-153002-). It is described as 'numerous linear features formed by low banks and fosses in same field to E and S of moated site, extend S to church site (CO024-15603-) and burial ground (CO024-15602-). These include (a) rectangular area (c. 20m N-S; c. 14m E-W) defined by low earthen bank with shallow external fosse; low outer bank on N side curves around NW corner and turns W, for c. 40m, to join SE corner of moated site; E bank of enclosure extends beyond enclosure to N and S, for short distance. (b) immediately to W of (a) is low earthen bank extending N for c. 30m and S for c. 86m; at S end it forms right angle and extends c. 14m to E, terminating at E field boundary. (c) extending S from S end of (b) and joining up with E bank of church enclosure (CO024-15603-) is low earthen bank (Wth 4m; L 32m). (d) extending W from S end of (b) to field boundary to W, is shallow fosse (D 0.5m; Wth 0.8m) with low earthen bank (H 0.6m) on N side. (e) in SE corner of field, is mound (c. 22m N-S and c. 12m E-W; H 1 to 1.5m) with long axis NNW-SSE; with central linear depression on N-S axis. (f) c. 12m to S of moated site is sub-square raised area (8m N-S; 8m E-W; H 0.5m) with top surface uneven. Area between this feature and field boundary to W is very wet.' The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). 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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