What is recorded here

Mondaniel holds three small charcoal pits from AD1420-1640, discovered while building the N8 Rathcormac-Fermoy Bypass. They are shallow, circular, and packed with burnt remains, evidence that people transformed local wood into dense fuel before the road cut through the field. A fourth site lies half a kilometre away, suggesting this was not a one-off experiment but a repeated neighbourhood practice. The heat is gone, but the purpose remains visible in the dark shapes beneath the soil.

Excavation in advance of the construction of the N8 Rathcormac-Fermoy Bypass in 2003 uncovered three circular pits (pit 1: diam. 1m; D 0.1m, pit 2: diam. 1.17m x 1.79m; D 0.1m, pit 3 1.28; D 0.05m). All three pits showed evidence of intense burning and their fills included layers of charcoal. According to the excavator (Cotter 2006g, 69), all three features are believed to have been charcoal production pits. Radiocarbon analysis of the charcoal in the pits returned a date of AD1420-1640. Another charcoal-making site (CO044-086----), which is probably of similar date, is situated c. 350m to the SSW. (Cotter 2006g, 69) The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 5' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). Date of upload: 22 December 2009

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