2023:439 - St. Anne's Road, Clifden, Galway

The test excavation of a site in advance of its development at St. Anne’s Road in Clifden, County Galway, was carried out on 31 May and 1 June 2023. The project consisted of a housing development and the testing was necessary due to the size of the proposed development site and the scale of the proposed development. It was carried out as part of the planning process.

The development site was located along the northern side of the N59 (Clifden-Westport road) on the northern outskirts of Clifden town. The site had been extensively filled in the last twenty years with overgrown spoil heaps located along the northern side of the site. The original site levels were visible along the southern side of the site, which was marshy and crossed by two streams. There were no features of archaeological significance visible within the proposed development site.

The testing consisted of the excavation of four trenches, located to best cover the area of the site that was accessible. The trenches measured 29.9m, 19.8m, 25m and 40m long respectively; 2-2.5m wide and 0.4-2.8m deep.

The pre-development testing revealed topsoil and fill on the surface, above a series of modern fills and peat, above natural subsoils and bedrock. This stratigraphy was reflective of a site which had been filled over a number of periods during the last few decades. Only late 20th-century and early 21st- century artefacts were found. Nothing of archaeological significance was in evidence.