Moated site in Ballinvinny South

In pasture, on a moderately steep W-facing slope, c. 200m E of a stream. This subrectangular moated site (c. 40m N-S; c. 30m E-W) was partially excavated in 2001 in advance of the construction of the N8 Glanmire-Watergrasshill Bypass. It comprised an enclosing fosse (Wth c. 2m; max. D 1.7m) with a steep-sided flat-bottomed profile which was deepest and widest along the N and E sides. The W side of the moated site lay outside the limit of the road corridor and was not excavated. The entrance (Wth 5.5m) was at the W end of the S side. Three shallow post-holes found in the entrance area may have been part of an entrance gate. Drystone wall-facing was visible for a distance of c. 8m along the inner N face of the fosse, immediately E of the entrance. A leat or water channel (max. Wth 1.3m; D 0.5m) commenced near the S end of the E side of the fosse and extended (min. L 64m) upslope to the E and beyond the limit of the road corridor. According to the excavator (Cotter 2005a, 5), this leat may have brought water to the fosse from the higher ground to the E where there are natural springs. The remains of two medieval houses (CO064-156002-, CO064-156003-) were located within the moated site. As radiocarbon analysis proved inconclusive, the dating of the moated site was based principally on morphological comparisons with other excavated sites and on the pottery retrieved from the excavation which dated to the 13th/14th centuries and was identified mainly as imported Saintonge ware and local Cork ware. (Cotter 2003a, 27; 2005a) The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 5' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). Date of upload: 22 December 2009