2000:0184 - LIAFIN, Donegal

A one-day site assessment was carried out in the area of a proposed house site at Liafin, Linsfort, Co. Donegal, in order to fulfil the requirements of an outline planning application to erect a dwelling and septic tank. The archaeological site that prompted this assessment, standing stone SMR 19:15, no longer appears to exist at its recorded location. However, two ‘new’ standing stones had been located in the field on the opposite side of the road to the development site during a previous site assessment.

Three test-trenches were opened within the area of development—Trenches 1 and 2 within the footings of the building, and Trench 3 along the length of the proposed access road to the dwelling.

Trench 1 was placed along the length of the proposed building and was located 26m from the west field boundary and 8m from the north field boundary. The trench, which was 20m long, c. 2m wide and orientated north–south, was excavated with the aid of a machine fitted with a toothless bucket. The topsoil (a grey/dark brown, loamy, silty clay that ranged in depth from 0.2m to 0.26m) was removed to uncover the underlying subsoil—an orange/white, soft, sandy, silt boulder clay. No archaeological activity was located during this work.

Trench 2 was placed along the width of the proposed building, at right angles to Trench 1, approximately central to the first trench. This trench was c. 2m wide and 10m long. Again the topsoil was stripped to uncover the underlying subsoil. No archaeological activity was uncovered within this trench.

Trench 3 was placed along the length of the proposed access road to the dwelling and was located c. 8m to the south of Trench 2 and 13m to the west of Trench 1. The area opened up was c. 2m wide and 15m long. Again the topsoil was removed to uncover the underlying subsoil, and nothing of archaeological significance was located within this trench.

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