County: Clare Site name: AREA 7, BALLYNACRAGGA
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 98E0333
Author: Billy Quinn, Archaeological Services Unit Ltd.
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 524768m, N 657338m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.662007, -9.112115
In the summer of 1998 an archaeological investigation was carried out in the townland of Latoon South, Co. Clare, as part of the proposed N18/19 (Ballycasey-Dromoland) Bypass Road Improvement Scheme. This followed an Environmental Impact Survey carried out by Celie O Rahilly and subsequent site assessments by Christine Grant, undertaken in 1998. It was established that this area, Area 7, contained erratic boulders and traces of linear arrangements of earth and stone, possibly early field systems.
Two 10m x 1m trenches, both orientated north- south, were excavated to limestone bedrock. Trench 1 was positioned to traverse an earth-and-stone bank. Trench 2 lay further to the west, in a clearing on higher ground.
Trench 1 was excavated to a depth of 0.3m. Before testing, much of the surrounding bush and scrub was cut back to reveal the earth-and-stone bank, which survived to a height of 0.7m above ground level and when excavated was shown to be a drystone wall. Despite clearance the wall was still overgrown and much disturbed by root action. The sod and topsoil layer of mid-brown silt, with more grass cover to the north than to the south, ran over and was banked up against the boundary wall. It had a maximum depth of 0.15m. The wall itself consisted of a number of large, limestone slabs set on edge, supported on a foundation of smaller packing-stones. In one instance an upright slab had been placed in a natural socket in the bedrock. There was no evidence of any toolmarks on the larger stones.
A stone alignment consisting of five stones running east-west across the trench to the north of the wall was investigated by opening two 1m2 extensions on both sides of the feature. The alignment proved to be natural. A brown silt layer with occasional small stones and a maximum thickness of 0.3m was found around the wall and appeared to be natural. An orange/brown, gravelly silt was found to the north of the wall and directly overlay the bedrock. It had a depth of 0.13m and was featureless. Trench 2 was excavated to a maximum depth of 0.35m. Sod and topsoil with a depth of 0.1m overlay a featureless brown silt, with frequent small stones. This overlay limestone bedrock.
Pre-development testing of Area 7 produced no archaeological finds. The wall in Trench 1 was the only notable feature but lacked any associated datable evidence. All of the layers excavated were sterile.
Purcell House, Oranmore, Co. Galway
