2004:1474 - RAGHRABEG, Roscommon

Testing was undertaken as part of an assessment undertaken in advance of the construction of a dwelling house and septic tank within the area of archaeological constraint of a battery in Raghrabeg townland, just outside Shannonbridge, Athlone, Co. Roscommon.

The monument is situated on the western bank of the River Shannon occupying the eastern end of an esker ridge. The fortification was constructed in response to the fear of a French invasion from the west during the Napoleonic Wars. Works on the batteries commenced in 1804 in the form of earthworks and these were replaced in 1811–12 by the masonry emplacements that are still visible today. The stonework is composed of squared rubble built in courses. These walls generally have a pronounced batter. The fortifications consist of a bomb-proof barrack, a small arms battery, an advanced redoubt, a glacis, curtain walls and earthworks. Advances in military technology, including the breech-loading rifle and improved artillery, rendered this type of fortification obsolete by the 1860s and the military presence was abandoned after the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.

The development site was located on flat ground immediately north of a steep esker at the very end of the glacis, away from the main body of the fortifications. Four machine-cut test-trenches were laid out at intervals across the site.

Testing was undertaken with a mechanical digger equipped with a toothless bucket. Trench I was 1.5m wide and 30m long, laid out north-south. Trenches II–IV were 1.5m wide by 60m long, orientated north-south. The trenches ran downslope from the edge of the steep natural esker. The glacis was located along the top of this glacial ridge. There was a straightforward stratigraphy across the site. A uniform topsoil sat directly on well-drained glacial deposits. There was a degree of glacial sorting visible across the test area, ranging from fine sand to gravel.

No finds, features or deposits of archaeological significance were uncovered during the course of testing. A range of modern material was recovered from the test-trenches that reflects the proximity of the development site to a farmyard.