Shandon Integrated Urban Strategy Oct 2024

Monument No.

Class

Townland

Distance from IUS boundary

CO074-034002-

Town defences

Cork City

circa 40m to south

CO074-034003-

Castle - tower house

Cork City

circa 90m to south

CO074-057----

Custom house

Cork City

circa 80m to southwest

CO074-062----

Ritual site - holy well

Cork City

circa 50m to east

Figure 5: Location of project area (outlined in red) in relation to the medieval historic core of Cork and surrounding archaeological zone (source: Cork City Council)

Historical context The archaeological and historical evidence indicates that Cork’s urban roots tentatively developed during the latter half of the 11 th -century in an area which straddled the south channel of the Lee, encompassing the northern end of present-day Barrack Street, the area immediately south of Sullivan’s Quay in the vicinity of St. Nicholas’ church and the southern tip of the newly reclaimed south island within the reed marsh estuary. The embryonic settlement peacefully co- existed and cooperated with the neighbouring monastic community to the west, said to have been founded by St. Finbarr c .606 AD , which it appears did not evolve into a ‘monastic town’ in the centuries preceding Viking settlement in Cork. The earliest mention of the monastery in the annals (AFM) is in 682 AD when the death of Suibne, the abbot of the monastery, was recorded. Although there is annalistic evidence for a Viking presence in the Cork Harbour area during the 9 th and 10 th centuries (the first account of Viking raiders in Cork dates to 821 AD), no indication

Integrated Urban Strategy, Shandon, Cork Baseline archaeological assessment

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