You think you know a place.

But even people who might have grown up on North Main Street, Cork City will be surprised and amazed at a collection of items excavated from the area, set to be showcased as part of a fascinating new exhibition.

A window into the lives of medieval Cork people, offering evidence of everyday life and activities, as well as indicators of the wider environmental conditions from the 12th to the 14th centuries and beyond, Beneath Our Feet will open to the public on Cork City Culture Night, Friday, September 19th, running until October 8th,  2025 at St Peter’s, North Main Street.

What lies beneath

Back in the winter of 2021-22, a team of archaeologists led by Avril Purcell of Lane Purcell Archaeology got stuck into a big dig at 92-96 North Main Street, right in the heart of Cork city.

Sunderland Surface: A detail of a glass relief panel made from the impressions of bone, plant remains and other materials found on site.

They went down about three metres below street level and uncovered the remains of twelve medieval buildings — everything from stake-built houses to post-and-wattle structures and timber homes built on sill beams.

The really cool bit? Because the ground was waterlogged, all sorts of organic materials survived that normally wouldn’t — like wooden beams, leather, and even traces of plants and insects.

These finds are now with specialists who are busy analysing them to piece together what life was like back then.

And it’s not just science nerds who are excited — some of those specialists have also been teaming up with artists on the Beneath Our Feet project, bringing Cork’s buried past to life in new and creative ways.

Specialist scientists and archaeologists will share the space with artists and an oral historian, to share information, ideas and on occasion, to collaborate, in work that will culminate in a month-long exhibition with a series of talks in September and October.