Settlement cluster in Newtown (bantry By.)

The establishment and development of Newtown settlement has been described by Breen (2007, 133-40). The settlement, c. 1km N of Bantry, was established by Broghil in the mid-17th century, sometime after the establishment of Newtown bastioned fort (CO118-002001-) in the early 1650s. The Census of Ireland in 1659 records that Newtown had then a population of 119, 34 of whom were English and 85 were Irish. The occupation of the settlement appears to have been short lived, its demise seems to have resulted from direct economic competition with Bantry (Ballygubbin Towne). Two differing plans of Newtown survive from the 1680s: Thomas Philip's vista of Bantry Bay and a French map of 1687-8. The settlement was abandoned by the end of the 17th century and was later incorporated into an 18th-century demesne (Breen 2002, 51). Excavations were undertaken in Newtown in 2000 on the deserted settlement and the site of the mid-17th century bastioned fort (CO118-002001-) (Breen 2000; 2002, 50-51). A test trench (7m x 1m) was opened up on the periphery of the settlement where geophysics had revealed a series of roughly rectangular property boundaries (c. 20m x 10m) and lanes or hollow-ways (Wth 3-4m) running through the area. Excavations uncovered the foundations of the gable end of a possible house structure which was rectangular in plan. The structure would appear to have been a timber-frame construction, built on basal wooden sills with a slated roof (Breen 2007, 139). This house was very clearly dateable to the late 1650s and early 1660s, as evidenced by clay tobacco finds from secure contexts of the structure (ibid., 138). According to Breen (ibid., 139), the structural character of the building is clearly English and the material culture, as defined by a number of pottery sherds which are all English wares, would also support the assignation of an English ethnic identity for the occupants of the building. (Breen 2000; 2002, 50-51; 2007) The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 5' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). Date of upload: 22 December 2009