Every place has a story to tell but, with the passing of Dr Penny Johnston is a graduate of University VOICES HIDDEN time, not all stories are preserved. The archaeological College Cork and the University of Sheffield. discoveries presented in this book afford a rare chance Her research interests include a broad range of to hear from people whose voices would be lost were it topics in cultural heritage, from oral history to not for the opportunities for discovery presented by the environmental archaeology. She worked on the construction of the M8 Fermoy–Mitchelstown motorway M8 Fermoy–Mitchelstown motorway project HIDDEN in north County Cork. while a post-excavation manager at Eachtra Archaeological Projects. Hidden Voices documents a major programme of archaeological investigations at 24 sites on the route of the Jacinta Kiely is a graduate of University College motorway, which traverses broad plains of rich pastureland Cork. She is a founder member of Eachtra VOICES and the western foothills of the Kilworth Mountains. Archaeological Projects and has worked on a A diverse range of archaeological sites was discovered, number of national road schemes including the representing the day-to-day life, work and beliefs of the M8 Fermoy–Mitchelstown motorway. communities who occupied this landscape over the last 10,000 years. Readers will learn of Mesolithic nomads fishing the and Jacinta Johnston Penny Kiely River Funshion and of Neolithic farmsteads excavated at Gortore, Caherdrinny and Ballinglanna North. Bronze Age houses were found at Ballynamona, Gortnahown and Kilshanny, and a rare Iron Age example at Caherdrinny. Life in prehistory was precarious. There were burials at Ballynacarriga of Early Bronze Age women and children, including a young woman and her unborn child. But there was also the comfort of religion. Timber circles uncovered at Ballynacarriga are evidence of ceremonial practices in Later Neolithic times. The accounts of the excavations of an early medieval cliff-edge fort at Ballynacarriga, and cob-built houses and a blacksmith’s dwelling at Gortnahown move the story into the historical era. The iron-working evidence indicates highly specialised bell manufacture and brazing. The early 12th-century manuscript known as Críchad an Chaoilli provides a backdrop to these medieval sites, with its evidence for territorial boundary evolution and land ownership in the old kingdom of Fir Maige (Fermoy). The investigations along the M8 were undertaken by Eachtra TII Archaeological Projects for Cork Heritage County Council, with funding from the National Roads Authority (now Transport Infrastructure Ireland). 7 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE M8 FERMOY–MITCHELSTOWN MOTORWAY Penny Johnston and Jacinta Kiely HIDDEN VOICES The archaeology of the M8 Fermoy–Mitchelstown motorway ii HIDDEN VOICES The archaeology of the M8 Fermoy–Mitchelstown motorway Penny Johnston and Jacinta Kiely with contributions by N Bower, N Carlin, M Dillon, E Grogan, K Hanley, L Hegarty, J Lehane, D Leigh, L G Lynch, J Lyttleton, M McCarthy, P MacCotter, I Magee, M Monk, J O’Donoghue, S Ó Faoláin, H Roche, F Sternke, J Tierney, M Toscano and T Young TII Heritage 7 iii First published in 2019 by Transport Infrastructure Ireland Parkgate Business Centre, Parkgate Street, Dublin 8, DO8 DK10 Copyright © Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the authors All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. This book is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Library of Congress Cataloguing-in Publication Data are available for this book. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Material from Ordnance Survey Ireland is reproduced with the permission of the Government of Ireland and Ordnance Survey Ireland under permit number EN0045218. ISBN 978-1-911633-15-0 ISSN 2009-8480 TII Heritage 7 Copy-editing: Editorial Solutions (Ireland) Ltd Cover design, typesetting and layout: Dogtag Creative Index: Julitta Clancy Printed by: W&G Baird Ltd Front and back cover—The ruins of Caherdrinny towerhouse on Caherdrinny Hill, with extensive views in all directions. The castle sits on the site of a prehistoric hillfort at which, in pre-Norman times, the óenach or assembly of the kingdom of Fir Maige (Fermoy) was held (photo by John Sunderland). Back cover—Made for hunting, a Chalcolithic (c. 4300-year old) flint arrowhead found at Gortnahown 2, south of Mitchelstown (John Sunderland). CONTENTS Foreword vii Acknowledgements viii Note on available supporting data x 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Topography, geology and soil 2 1.2 Archaeological fieldwork 4 1.3 Where the road takes us 5 1.4 Organisation of the book 9 2. The Excavations 11 2.1 Ballinglanna North 1—Mesolithic and Early Bronze Age stone tools, 17 Iron Age fulacht fiadh, early medieval bloomsmithing and early modern building 2.2 Ballinglanna North 2—Pits of possible Chalcolithic and early medieval date 21 2.3 Ballinglanna North 3—Neolithic settlement, Early Bronze Age 22 fulachtaí fia and Iron Age building 2.4 Ballinglanna North 4—Iron Age pit 29 2.5 Ballinglanna North 5—Chalcolithic pits and other features 29 2.6 Ballinglanna North 6—Early Mesolithic blade, possible 29 Neolithic quern-stone and Early Bronze Age fulacht fiadh 2.7 Ballynacarriga 2—Neolithic stone tools and early medieval cliff-edge fort 31 2.8 Ballynacarriga 3—Multi-period prehistoric ceremonial site 40 2.9 Ballynamona 1— Pits and pottery of Neolithic and Bronze Age date 52 2.10 Ballynamona 2—Early prehistoric finds, Bronze Age settlement and 52 Iron Age metal-working 2.11 Caherdrinny 2—Middle Bronze Age cremation pyre? 61 2.12 Caherdrinny 3—Mesolithic artefacts, Early Neolithic, later prehistoric 62 and early medieval settlements 2.13 Garryleagh 1—Late medieval smithing hearth 75 2.14 Glenatlucky 1—Early Bronze Age burial 75 2.15 Gortnahown 1—Early Bronze Age and Iron Age features/possible house 77 2.16 Gortnahown 2—Prehistoric features, early medieval bell manufacturing 80 and late medieval settlement 2.17 Gortnahown 3—Late prehistoric hearths 94 2.18 Gortore 1b—Mesolithic fishing, Neolithic settlement and early 96 medieval corn-drying kiln 2.19 Kildrum 1 (Corracunna)—Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age fulacht fiadh 106 2.20 Kilshanny 1—Late prehistoric (enclosed?) settlement 107 2.21 Kilshanny 2—Late Bronze Age and/or modern pits 109 2.22 Kilshanny 3—Late Bronze Age fulacht fiadh 109 2.23 Ballynacarriga 4—Undated pit group and early modern furrows 110 2.24 Gortnahown 5—Two fulachtaí fia of possible Bronze Age date 111 v 3. Giving Voice to a Buried Past 113 3.1 Prehistoric settlements and communal places 114 3.2 Fulachtaí fia 135 3.3 Early medieval settlement 140 3.4 Historical context for the early medieval sites 146 3.5 Later medieval cob-built houses at Gortnahown 2 155 3.6 Plant remains 160 3.7 Animal bones from early medieval Ballynacarriga 2 167 3.8 Cremated human remains 171 3.9 Prehistoric pottery 177 3.10 Stone tool use 193 3.11 Iron-working 204 4. Conclusions 221 Appendix 1—Catalogue of Radiocarbon Dates 226 Bibliography 239 Index 258 vi FOREWORD Ireland has a special character, deriving equally from the landscape and from the peoples who have lived here from earliest prehistory to modern times. Today’s Ireland is a product of their lives and actions, and of their adaptability to changing circumstances and new ideas. This book is about the archaeology of one part of the island, which has its own unique stories, as we shall see. Hidden Voices records a major programme of archaeological investigations on the route of the M8 Fermoy–Mitchelstown motorway, in North Cork. In line with the National Development Plan of 2007–2013, the M8 Fermoy–Mitchelstown motorway forms part of the recently completed motorway between Cork and Dublin, a strategic link between two of our principal cities and a core piece of infrastructure for the economic well-being of Ireland. Locally, the motorway has enhanced the quality of life for people in the historic towns of Fermoy and Mitchelstown, as they no longer carry a large volume of through traffic, including freight and other long-distance commercial traffic. The motorway was opened nine months ahead of schedule and within the planned budget. This was a very significant achievement and is a credit to all involved, in particular Roadbridge Ltd, PCP Consult, Cork County Council and the management and staff of the Council’s National Roads Design Office. Hidden Voices represents a successful collaboration between Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and Cork County Council, in funding and managing a planned programme of archaeological investigations along the motorway route at pre-construction stage, and in ensuring an attractive outcome for the public benefit, at the end of the process. The work was conducted for the Council by Eachtra Archaeological Projects. The range of the discoveries is impressive, spanning every major period of human settlement in Ireland—from evidence for Late Mesolithic spear-fishing in the River Funshion (c. 6400–5700 BC) and an intriguing Late Neolithic ceremonial site at Ballynacarriga (c. 2850–2450 BC), to specialist bell manufacturing for early medieval clergy in Gortnahown (c. AD 770–600) and daily life on later medieval farmsteads in Gortnahown and Caherdrinny. Hidden Voices is a clear demonstration of TII’s commitment to the Code of Practice for Archaeology agreed with the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.