Time Traveling Through West Cork
Coppinger’s Court
This post was originally published February 16, 2017.
Last week I got to see artifacts pulled from archaeological sites, so this week I thought I would do one better (well, really my professor did) and visit some actual archaeological sites themselves. Though no one is still digging through the dirt at the sites I visited, the historical evidence remains visibly marked. On my trip through County Cork, we visited each site in chronological order, starting in the fifth century AD at Garranes Ringfort.
To be honest, there’s not much to see at Garranes Ringfort. It’s on private land and has since been overgrown with trees and tall grasses. Ringforts were defenses made from mounds of dirt. They don’t look very intimidating without all the wooden posts that would have existed at the time, but they continue to tell a lot about the people who lived there. Garranes Ringfort is actually one of the most well documented ringforts in Ireland. It has three mounds, meaning someone of high importance lived there—supposedly a local king. It is possible that Saint Finbarr (remember him from the first post?) grew up in this very Ringfort, but then again, a lot of Saint Finbarr’s history is complete speculation. Current speculation is that faeries live there.
Next stop was Ballinacarriga Tower House. It’s over 1000 years older than Garranes Ringfort. The carved windows depicting the crucifixion of Jesus on the top floor are dated at 1585 AD but were likely added later. The tower house is well fortified with small windows and bartizans. It first served as a home for a branch of the Hurley family. Later, when Catholics were being persecuted in Ireland, it may have become a space for secret worship.
Drombeg Stone Circle
After a brief lunch in Clonakilty, I was headed to Coppinger’s Court. This semi-fortified house was built in 1616 AD, and in my opinion, appeared cozier to live in than Ballinacarriga. Defense was not such an issue for the occupants of the home, as it was situated off in the countryside. Coppinger’s Court also exists on private property, so it is falling into disrepair, but chimneys and window stuccos continue to remain for the time being. I imagine the four-story house was a dream home to live in, but now it is a temporary occupancy for some cows.
The last stop on the time traveling tour was Drombeg Stone Circle. There are many stone circles in Ireland and they are all designed to match up with a specific cosmological cycle and the landscape. This particular stone circle lined up with the sun on the winter solstice, causing the light to fall between the two portal stones. The remains of a cremated male were found in the center of the circle, but archaeologists are still unsure who he was. It is probably safe to say that he had some sort of religious significance as stone circles have been linked with ritual. Even today, people of many religions come to the stone circle and leave behind keepsakes like letters, rosaries, and candles, and on December 21st, the archaeologists go there to party.