County: Limerick Site name: AUGHINISH WEST
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 10:14 Licence number: 96E0168
Author: Martin Byrne
Site type: Enclosure
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 527466m, N 652244m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.616598, -9.071130
An archaeological evaluation was undertaken from 19 to 21 June 1996 on behalf of Aughinish Alumina Ltd. who intend to extend their residue storage zone in an area which encompasses the site. The work was undertaken in compliance with a condition of planning.
Much of the site had been levelled in antiquity and the only extant feature was the truncated remains of a low bank, situated in the south-west quadrant. This bank was 17m in length and had a maximum height of 1.23m above the existing ground surface. Given the arc of the bank, it is postulated that the enclosure would have had a diameter of 35–40m. The interior of the site was generally flat but was very heavily overgrown until recent times. A stone wall/field boundary ran through the southern half of the site. This wall is not marked on the first-edition OS 6" map but is recorded on subsequent editions, indicating that it was possibly constructed in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
Both linear and area trenches, with a combined area of 87.4m2, were opened to determine the exact nature and extent of any possible subsurface archaeological deposits or features. The only feature uncovered was a shallow linear trench located immediately inside the bank, in a localised area. No finds or other material of archaeological interest were recovered from the excavated areas.
39 Kerdiff Park, Monread, Naas, Co. Kildare
