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Cork
An extensive stony deposit was excavated within the western interior of the enclosure and
had been presumably laid to raise and level up this half of the site. Its surface was cut by a
number of post pits and stakeholes though these were at a less density than any other part
of the site.
Several pits were excavated within the interior, one of which revealed a possible ring-pin. A
number of shallow pits in the south-eastern area of the enclosure contained large quantities
of slag and appear to have been involved in ironworking. One pit in this area surrounded by a
concentration of loose slag as well as a heavily iron stained mixed spread was interpreted as
a possible bowl furnace.
Finds from the site were fewer than that recovered on Lisleagh I. Considerable evidence for
ironworking and metalworking was identified as was a large quantity of animal bone. The
recovery of charred grains of six-row hulled barley, oats, rye and flax seeds as well as quern
stones indicate a mixed agricultural economy at the site.
Fig. 76: Artistic reconstruction of Lisleagh II, Co. Cork (after Monk 1998).
References:
Monk, M. A. 1995. A tale of two ringforts: Lisleagh I and II. Journal of the Cork Historical and
Archaeological Society, 100, 105–16.
Monk, M. A. 1998. Early Medieval Secular and Ecclesiastical Settlement in Munster, in M. A.
Monk & J. Sheehan (eds.) Early medieval Munster: archaeology, history, and society. Cork:
Cork University Press, 33–52.
McLarnen, F., Monk, M. A., & Sexton, R. 2004. 'Burning the biscuit': evidence from the
Lisleagh excavations reveals new secrets twenty years on! Archaeology Ireland, 18(3), 18–20.
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