County: Limerick Site name: BALLINACURRA (HART)/BALLINACURRA (WESTON)/ROSSBRIEN SOUTH/RATHBANE/
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 13:15 Licence number: 99E0643 ext.
Author: Paul Stevens for Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 556805m, N 655058m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.645010, -8.638269
Monitoring of topsoil-stripping for the Limerick Main Drainage Southern Interceptor Pipeline wayleave commenced in October 1999 and concluded on 31 July 2000. Small sections of the pipeline corridor are opened consecutively, and these sections are monitored as they become available. This development forms part of the extensive ongoing Limerick Main Drainage Works throughout Limerick City. The pipeline ran for a distance of 5.26km from the proposed pumping station at Corcanree opposite the Dock Road, by Roches, to the Bawnmore estate in Banemore townland, south of Limerick City. The pipeline passed within the constraint areas of a number of recorded monuments and close to several excavated sites identified during separate monitoring of the Annacotty to Adare road, which runs parallel to the pipeline.
Five archaeological sites were revealed as part of monitoring. Four of these were excavated during 2000 under separate licences (listed below). The remaining site, Site 1, was preserved in situ with development rerouted further south to avoid its disturbance.
Site 1: Lisdana Ringfort
Site 1, SMR 13:15, is recorded as an ‘enclosure’ in the Record of Monuments and Places. The pipeline was initially rerouted around the location of this monument as recorded on the second edition OS map. However, stripping for the wayleave revealed part of the outer bank and ditch. This revealed the site to be a partially exposed, medium-sized univallate ringfort, known as Lisdana, or Lissidagda (Lios a’Daghadha), which translated as Dagda’s Fort. The fort was hexagonal or subcircular in plan, measuring 43m in outer diameter 19.5m in internal diameter. It possessed a lowered interior, a denuded bank and an enclosing ditch. The interior of the fort was void of orange, boulder clay subsoil, suggesting that it had been deliberately removed, and contained three/four possible post-holes in a linear alignment. A residual internal bank was revealed as a ring of surviving orange subsoil, 1.5–5.5m wide, surrounded by a large stone-filled ditch, seemingly recut and backfilled. The ditch was revealed to be shallow, concave in profile and 5.2–5.7m. A stony fill was interpreted as pushed-in bank material. The western part of the ditch was cut by a stone-filled drain (shown on the first edition OS map). The fort remained unexcavated but was cleaned by hand, recorded and then backfilled. The pipeline wayleave was then rerouted 10m to the south of the outer ditch on the recommendations of Dúchas The Heritage Service.
Other sites
The remaining sites uncovered during monitoring of topsoil were fully excavated under separate excavation licences by Paul Stevens and Edmond O’Donovan. These were as follows:
Site 2: A burnt spread in Rosbrien townland, excavated in April 2000 by Paul Stevens, see Excavations 2000, No. 611.
Site 3: A fulacht fiadh in Rathbane South townland, excavated in June/July 2000 by Edmond O’Donovan, see Excavations 2000, No. 607.
Site 5: A prehistoric complex in Banemore townland, excavated in July 2000 by Edmond O’Donovan, see Excavations 2000, No. 575.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
