Souterrain in Ballynacarriga (imokilly By., Youghal Par.)

This souterrain was discovered in 2001 during archaeological excavations in advance of the N25 Youghal Bypass. The earth-cut souterrain was located within the SW quadrant of an enclosure (CO067-086----), to the N of a circular structure (CO067-086001-). It comprised four main chambers that formed a roughly horse-shoe shape in plan. The first two chambers, one at E and the other at N, were uncovered in the E arm of the souterrain. The E chamber (6.1m N-S; max. Wth 2.3m; H 1.28m) consisted of sharp vertical sides and a flat base. A rounded termination to the N end of the chamber, where it met the second chamber, along with a sharp bump in the ground may have formed part of an entrance feature. Similar to the E chamber, the N chamber (5.7m E-W; Wth 0.96m; H 0.96) had sharp vertical sides and a flat base. This chamber became wider (max. Wth 1.25m) and deeper (max. D 1.13m) at the NW where it met with the W arm of the souterrain. Two chambers were uncovered in this W arm, one at the W and the other at the S. The W chamber (max. L 3.6m N-S; max. Wth 2m; max. H 1.8m) was roughly rectangular in plan with sharp sides and a flat base. It was connected to the E arm by a narrow creepway at the N. A shelf (L 1.5m; Wth 0.95m) in the W side of the chamber may have been a side exit. The fourth chamber (L 3.4m SE-NW; max. H 0.83m) to the S had sharp sides and a flat base. The height of the chamber decreased (H 0.53m) at the S end and this would appear to have been the entrance area to the souterrain (Noonan et al. 2004, 18). A patchy, possible clay floor lining was found in the W arm. Similar to another souterrain (CO067-086004-), excavated c. 20m to the E, it is possible that the souterrain was timber lined, though no evidence of this survived (ibid., 19). According to the excavators (ibid.), it is also possible that the souterrain may have been stone lined and the stone may have been robbed out for use elsewhere. (Noonan 2003e, 29-30; Noonan et al. 2004) The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 5' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). Date of upload: 22 December 2009