2000:0574 - BALLINGARRANE, Limerick

Pre-development testing was carried out at Ballingarrane, Rathkeale, Co. Limerick. The site was scheduled for development consisting of two residential housing plots and was the subject of a planning condition that required a test excavation as part of the archaeological assessment. The houses are within the zone of archaeological potential of a registered monument, a disused 19th-century burial-ground. In order to ensure that associated archaeological features were not destroyed, Limerick County Planning Authority required that a full archaeological assessment be made of the proposed site.

The site is located c. 2 miles to the north-west of Rathkeale town. The two houses had been constructed in a field immediately to the north of a 19th-century graveyard. This graveyard was used as a burial place for Famine and eviction victims who died in the Union Workhouse in Rathkeale. The workhouse was constructed before 1849, but the burial-ground was not in use until after 1842, as it is not recorded on the first edition OS map for this area. It is depicted on the second edition of the map as a subrectangular field enclosure. There are no grave-markers in any part of the burial site, and a modern cross has been placed close to the eastern boundary wall.

Five trenches were opened. Four were laid out in a north–south alignment to incorporate the position of the houses and percolation areas. A fifth trench was placed east–west adjacent to the boundary wall of the burial-ground.

Test-trench 1 was 22m long, with a maximum depth of 1m. The topsoil consisted of heavy, black clay silt varying in depth from 0.35m to 0.4m. This overlay the natural boulder clay, a buff-coloured clay with occasional large boulders. The boulder clay was excavated to a maximum depth of 0.65m below ground level, and no archaeological deposits or finds were noted.

Test-trench 2 was 20m long and was excavated at the south-eastern end of Plot 1. Trenching revealed an undisturbed soil profile similar to that observed in Trench 1. It was dug to a maximum depth of 0.9m below the present ground level, and no archaeological features or finds were present.

Test-trench 3 was located in Plot 2 and was placed across the long axis of the proposed dwelling-house. It was 20m long, with a maximum depth of 1m. The soil profile was similar to that observed in the previously excavated trenches. Nothing of archaeological significance was noted.

Test-trench 4 was located at the eastern end of Plot 2. It was 20m long, with a maximum depth of 0.95m. This revealed an undisturbed soil profile with no archaeological features or finds.

Test-trench 5 was the longest of the trenches (44m long, with a maximum depth of 1.2m) and was placed in an east–west direction adjacent to the wall of the burial-ground. The ground sloped considerably from the east to the west, and the slope resulted in a difference in topsoil depth of almost 0.2m. A layer of orange-brown boulder clay lay directly underneath the topsoil, and there were no features or finds of archaeological significance apparent on the surface of this deposit.

In summary, five test-trenches were placed within the area of the proposed housing development. These were all excavated to a level below the natural boulder clay, and no features or finds of archaeological significance were noted. The adjacent graveyard is of relatively modern origin and appears to be confined to the walled area. No trace of an earlier enclosure existed in the development site.

University College Cork