Earthwork in Ballycarty

The 'ramparts' were described by Connolly (1999, 3-4) as follows; 'As part of the preparations for the construction of the new link road (N22) between Ballycarty Cross and the Killarney road, the Office of Public Works requested trial excavations on a portion of the proposed route through the townland of Ballycarty, 4km east of Tralee. The lands in question were situated on the west-facing slope of a limestone (Waulsortian) reef which runs for approximately 200m from the east, westward toward Tralee. The spur is one of the highest points on the floor of the broad, flat valley formed by the Stacks Mountains to the north-north-east and the Slieve Mish to the south-southwest. The River Lee rises in the Stacks Mountains and flows southward to the valley floor before curving sharply to the west on its course to the sea at Blennerville. The river is fed by streams from both mountain ranges. The central location of the spur, close to the broad bend of the river, affords expansive views in al directions, including the most accessible passes through the flanking mountains and two fording-points on the River Lee. The low-lying land around the spur is recorded on early maps as being marshy and this would have given the spur all the appearance of a promontory, the only dry approach being from the east. The spur itself is composed of Carboniferous limestone with a minimal soil cover and contains an extraordinary wealth of fossil evidence. The maximum height of the spur is 32m above sea-level (OD), while the maximum height of the area under investigation is 29.5m. The features on the reef consist of six main elements: (1) the ramparts, (2) the causeway, (3) smaller enclosures, (4) the hilltop enclosure or henge [KE038-022----], (5) quarry ditches, and (6) the cairns. The area of excavation will be described separately as the seventh element of the site. (1) The ramparts The northern side of the reef is enclosed by at least two collapsed stone and earth ramparts, clearly visible at ground level. A possible third rampart can be seen on some aerial photographs but is unidentifiable at ground level. There are also traces of a wide ditch between the two visible ramparts. Only a single rampart can be seen on the southern side, but since the reef is much lower here any further defences would probably have been built on the level land below the reef, and may well have been destroyed during reclamation. Indeed, the marshy nature of the land prior to reclamation may have been deemed sufficient defence for the southern side of the reef. The ramparts are continuous along the western half of the reef but become intermittent and difficult to identify from the mid-point of the spur to its eastern extent. Over most of their length they have been built on the natural breaks in the slope and scarped back into the reef however, toward the eastern end of the reef the rampart on the northern side takes the form of a bank, while the southern side alternates between the scarped construction and a bank feature. The ditch, between the two ramparts on the northern side, is most clearly visible along the eastern half of the reef. It is very shallow, 0.3-0.4m in depth, and has an average width of 3.73m. If this depression does in fact denote a ditch, then it is likely to be rock-cut and has most probably filled up with slipped material from the inner rampart. Initially no trace of these ramparts could be seen on the western or eastern ends of the spur, but sod-stripping later revealed the rampart at the western end. A similar undertaking 1may well expose a rampart cutting off the eastern end of the reef and fill in the gaps in the more intermittent stretches. It also appears likely that some of the many structures at the eastern end of the spur utilise the rampart line, and possibly the their construction. The maximum external height of the rampart where it takes the form of an enhanced scarp is 0.8m, with a maximum width of 3.8m. Where this scarp changes to a conventional bank it has a maximum external height of 0.57m, an internal height of 0.44m and a width of 3.3m. The maximum length of the conventional bank. on the northern side, s 39.5m, while the distance between the double rampart, where it can be defined on the ground, is on average 5.8m. These meandering ramparts enclose an area with minimum measurements of 88m north-south and 200m east-west, covering approximately 1.76 hectares'. See attached images taken from Connolly 1999 Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on information supplied by Michael Connolly, County Archaeologist, Kerry Co. Co. Date of upload: 18 May 2022