Enclosure in Ballybrowney Lower

A roughly circular enclosure (enclosure 1) was excavated in 2003 in advance of the construction of the N8 Rathcormac-Fermoy Bypass. The enclosure (21.5m E-W; 19m N-S) was defined by a narrow trench (Wth 0.35m; D 0.3m) lined with flat stones which were set on edge. While several post-holes were identified in the fill of the trench, the linearity of the surviving sections of the stone lining suggests that most of the trench held upright planks. Two entrances (Wth 1m), one at the NE and the other at the SE, were defined by two substantial post-holes (diam. 0.5m; D 0.5m). Sherds of pottery, dating to the middle Bronze Age, were recovered from the fill of the trench. Numerous post-holes were excavated within the interior. A Bronze Age house (CO044-073002-) was uncovered at the centre of the interior. A line of evenly spaced post-holes, concentric with, and outside the line of the trench, extended from SW to N. Two Bronze Age enclosures (CO044-073003-, CO044-073006-) were located c. 20m to the NW and NE respectively. (Cotter 2006a 34-5; 2006c) The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 5' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). Date of upload: 22 December 2009