2000:0185 - MAGHERACAR, Donegal

NMI Burial Excavation Records

County: Donegal Site name: MAGHERACAR

Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0544

Author: Eoin Halpin, ADS Ltd.

Site type: No archaeology found

Period/Dating: N/A

ITM: E 579555m, N 858800m

Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.477262, -8.315438

The two proposed houses were located to the west of Bundoran, in the townland of Magheracar, Co. Donegal. Both sites are close to an existing dwelling. The first was within the walled paddock to the west of an old house, and the second was a replacement to existing outbuildings to the north of the older structure. Owing to the presence of four significant archaeological sites in the vicinity, a passage tomb, a wedge tomb and the sites of two standing stones, the surrounding ground has been scheduled by Dúchas The Heritage Service.

The testing of the two proposed sites uncovered nothing of archaeological significance. Indeed, it proved that previous groundworks in the paddock field and scarping in the yard to the north of the existing house had removed all archaeology in these specific areas. In the paddock, the over-deepened soils at the southern end of the field allowed for the insertion of a closed sewerage system without the need to disturb subsoil. Other services were likewise brought to site without the requirement for any subsoil disturbance.

The second house, located in the yard to the rear of the existing cottage, was to be found on the footprint of existing outbuildings, the floor levels of which are lower than the severely scarped exterior ground. Sewerage will be via a pipe to an existing outflow, the route for which has been tested and found to be clear of all archaeological deposits. All other services will either use this cleared line or be above ground from the existing cottage.

The visual impact of the two houses on the nearby megaliths will be minimal, since both houses have been designed on a small scale, using traditional materials, and will ultimately form part of an existing cluster of traditional buildings.

Unit 48, Westlink Enterprise Centre, 30–50 Distillery Street, Belfast BT12 5BJ