County: Longford Site name: RATHCRONAN, Granard
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 10:55 Licence number: 99E0566
Author: Dominic Delany
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 633496m, N 781196m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.779271, -7.491778
Test excavation was undertaken here before planning, on 16 November 1999. The site is at the south edge of the town and close to a motte and bailey, SMR 10:08001, an enclosure, SMR 10:08002, and a church and possible graveyard, SMR 10:05501. Most of the proposed development site is also within the urban zone of archaeological potential for Granard. The site comprises c. 14 acres of undulating pastureland, and it was not feasible to test the entire area before development. Following consultation with Dúchas, it was agreed that testing would be limited to the area of the proposed development that is closest to the recorded monuments and that monitoring of topsoil removal would be undertaken at construction phase.
The motte and bailey are strategically sited on the hilltop immediately north-west of the proposed development site. This is the castle built by Richard de Tuit in 1199, and it is also likely that this was the inauguration site of the chiefs of Anghaile, mentioned in 1475. Aerial photographs suggest that the motte and bailey occupy part of a much larger enclosure, perhaps a hillfort or monastic boundary.
Testing comprised the mechanical excavation of two 55m-long trenches, at locations corresponding to the north-west limits of the proposed development. A moderately compact, mid-brown, silty sand topsoil, 0.55m thick, overlay the subsoil, which varied from a light grey, clayey sand to an orange, clayey silt. No features, finds or deposits of archaeological interest were encountered.
31 Ashbrook, Oranmore, Co. Galway
