County: Limerick Site name: BARNAKYLE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 97E0451
Author: Paul Logue, ADS Ltd.
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 552536m, N 650557m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.604196, -8.700711
Assessment excavations were carried out during the period 27 November–1 December 1997 on behalf of Limerick County Council’s Road Design Office. The site had previously been identified as a cairn (AR 10) of potential archaeological importance, approximately 20m in diameter. It was located in an area of wet ground close to the north-western corner of a field in Barnakyle Townland, Co. Limerick. The field lies approximately 500m east of the N20 Cork–Limerick road, close to the northern outskirts of Patrickswell.
One trench, measuring 10m x 1m, was hand-excavated through the north-western quadrant of the site. The earliest stratum uncovered was a naturally formed grey sandy/gritty clay. This material had the appearance of being formed from weathered bedrock. Above this was a yellow-red compact clay. The compact clay was located in the northernmost 6m of the trench and had a maximum depth of 0.22m. It was also naturally formed.
At the northern limit of the trench one possible shallow pit was uncovered. The feature was filled with a yellow-brown stony clay containing no artefacts or any charcoal flecking. It is not believed that this pit is of any significant archaeological importance. It was overlain by the loam topsoil. Above the topsoil was a dump of field clearance stones that presumably gave rise to the potential cairn identification.
Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Fairview, Dublin 3
