Archaeology Field Trip

Sorry for the delay, I had been having trouble loading videos...So I decided to post the pictures regardless!

This last Saturday, (1st Feb. 2014) my archaeology class had a field trip to West Cork:

We went to Garranes Ringfort, Ballinacarriga Towerhouse, Lunch in Clonakilty--the home town of Michael Collins--Coppinger's Court, Drombeg Stone Circle and Fulacht Fiadh...

Lucky for me, the bus was right outside my apartment complex so I didn't have to walk far in the morning (a happy little victory)

Entrance to the Ringfort

Garranes Ringfort was our first stop, we trudged through a field and through a naturalcanopy of vegitation into asort of clearing. What looked to simply be a field  surrounded by trees and brush was actually the ringfort. Garranes Ringfort "may well be the royal seat of the

Éoganacht Raithleann, referred to as

Rath Raithleann in the early sources. The excavations in the 1930s produced evidence of early metal- and glass-working and uncovered the remains of an elaborate system of gates. Imported pottery (from the Mediterranean and Gaul) dating from the 5th and 7th centuries AD were found" according to our class hand-outs.

The Wind blew strong and there was a little rain, making for a  chilly (and muddy) mix. We moved from the center clearing up to one of the raised rings in attempt to gain some cover from the wind and rain, but ended up standing in the prevailing wind as a result... We spoke quickly so as to return to the warmth and dryness of the buses.

You can see the multiple rings here...

Making our way back to the buses...

Our second stop was the Ballinacarriga Tower House

The wind had picked up a bit more--walking up the stone steps I was worried we might have students toppling down like dominoes--luck for us we went inside immediately...

Once the class gathered inside to escape the worst of the wind and rain I heard our professor mention something about hot whiskey and soup for lunch... I was really warming up to the idea by then, and we still had two stops to go!

Inside, the wind was still blowing and rain coming in through the windows, but it was still a better place than out in the open. Although the floors and such were now long gone, we could see the structure of the whole tower house--where floors and windows would have been.

One window in particular was different from the rest. You could see carvings on it--possibly put there by the lady of the house--sporting her fashionable dress for the time, adding some charm to a otherwise plain house.

The class wound their way up to the top floor of the tower house. This was very interesting, but not the most comfortable. Being afraid of heights as I am, I was one of the last to get to the top...by the end I was practically crawling up the stairs. When I did reach the top I emerged into the surprisingly bright, exposed floor to see the majority of my classmates huddled in the giant fireplace off to the side of the once large chapel/room.

The view from the top was grand, albeit painful. The wind was actually howling, blowing cold rain at us and sometimes making one lose balance.

Our professor never lost his chipper attitude about the whole thing and continued talking (after coaxing the students out of the fireplace)

I had videos to place here of my prof. speaking about the windows and the tower-house in general,but for some reason they will not load now... I will post them as soon as I can! ^_^

Walking back down took a lot of effort--my legs felt like jelly by the end--I felt sorry for the few poor folk who got stuck behind me. I was so worried about the lack of traction on my rain-boots and the wet stone steps and losing my footing in the dark that I missed some of what our prof. had to say. Lucky for me, my friend Leo got the notes :)

I stopped part way down the stairs to snap this picture of the class gathered at the bottom...

We made our way back down, hurrying to the warmth of the buses.

By now we were all very ready for lunch!

Lunch was in the town of Clonakilty... 

Hometown of Michael Collins.

If you don't know who he is, shame on you! Go read up, or at the very least watch the movie...

The class clamored off the buses into town, we were on our own for finding food. Most of us stuck together though. After some good ol' fish 'n chips I was feeling much better!

The third stop on our trip was to Coppinger's Court:

A four-story semi-fortifoed house built in c.1616 by Sir Walter Coppinger.

The  house consists of a central block flanked by two towers on the East side and one in the center to the West.

We had to climb over/around a fence to get in...

And then across a deceptively muddy field. Sure, it looked solid and green, but your feet would sink a few inches if you stood on one spot for more than a few seconds...

The cows were curious as to what all these people had to do in their field, but they weren't as curious as the ones I met in Dingle (see video)

We couldn't go inside, or get very close at all because it was structurally unsound (and the prevailing wind that day made it even more so)

There are some mullioned windowssurviving on the top floor of the West side.

Other features include the well-preserved chimneys and remains of the bawn wall.

The sun came out for a few seconds so I took pictures as fast as I could with the natural light...

...and got one of my kind classmates to take a picture of me and Leo in front of the house :)

Our last stop was the Drombeg Stone Circle...

Roads were small and winding, so this stop we had to get out of the buses (a second time) and walk a half-mile or so...

At least the scenery was pretty ^_^

I felt like we weren't supposed to go inside the circle, like it was a sacred space...but our professor strode in and invited us to do the same.

on the flat surface of the alter-like stone there was supposed to be a depression of an axe...a mold, for one perhaps?

It was stunning that these type of things are just out in the country with little or no signs, no gaudy billboards proclaiming their location...

An artist's depiction of how it might have been used...

Oh hey, I think the sun's coming out...

Trough used for cooking meat (or as a tukish-bath-style-thing)

Well, from which to draw water for trough

It was a cold, windy, exhausting day. And I loved every minute of it.