County: Galway Site name: LAVALLY, Gort
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 122:108 Licence number: 00E0396
Author: Martin Fitzpatrick, Arch. Consultancy Ltd.
Site type: Designed landscape feature
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 545709m, N 702503m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.070386, -8.810122
Subsequent to an archaeological assessment, it was recommended that pre-development testing be undertaken to ascertain the monument’s archaeological significance. Registered as an unclassified earthwork, the site is located in the area of a proposed housing development in the town of Gort in South Galway.
The site consists of an oval mound aligned north-east/south-west (29.9m x 24.8m) with large stones scattered in the west-south-west. Defined by a very faint bank with three large, mature trees growing in it, the interior is flat with no distinctive features. Four trenches were manually excavated.
The stratigraphy indicated extensive disturbance in the area of the monument tested. Large areas of the interior had been dug out and filled with loose stones and refuse, forming a loose, brown layer. This layer was found throughout the site and contained frequent finds of modern (20th-century) glass and pottery fragments. The lack of archaeological artefacts and features suggests that the site may represent a tree-ring feature that was subsequently used to bury rubbish in.
Ballydavid South, Athenry, Co. Galway
