County: Roscommon Site name: BOYLE: Ross Lane
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0740
Author: Malachy Conway, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 580221m, N 802354m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.970094, -8.301455
The site is located on the south side of Ross Lane, off Cootehall Street on the south side of Boyle town. It is roughly rectangular, measuring 57.5m north–south by 37.5m, and is bounded on the west by a single residential dwelling and on the east by a warehouse/industrial unit, with pasture to the south and Ross Lane to the north. The level within the site largely corresponded with the adjacent road level except for a rise or platform within the south-west sector. A block-built structure formerly positioned in the south-central area of the site was cleared in advance of the assessment. It is proposed to construct thirteen townhouses together with ancillary works at Ross Lane. No recorded archaeological sites are located within a 400m radius of the site. The archaeological assessment was carried out on 13 January 2000.
Four assessment trenches were excavated using a mechanical excavator. Trench 1 was located running west–east in the north-west quadrant of the proposed development site, measuring 15m by 1.1m and excavated to a maximum depth of 0.7m. Dark brown topsoil 0.5m deep overlay orange, sandy clay containing occasional fragments of butchered animal bone and shells, early modern pottery and clay pipe stems. Undisturbed boulder clay was encountered at a minimum depth of 0.7m below ground level.
Trench 2 was located running north–south along the eastern perimeter of the site, measuring 30m by 1.1m and excavated to a maximum depth of 0.5m. Dark brown topsoil containing early modern pottery fragments mixed with modern rubbish lay up to 0.4m deep over orange/brown boulder clay.
Trench 3 was located running north–south centrally through the site, measuring 40m by 1.1m and excavated to a maximum depth of 0.5m. Dark brown topsoil containing modern finds 0.3–0.4m deep overlay orange/brown boulder clay containing many large boulders.
Trench 4 was located running west–east across the south-west quadrant of the site, measuring 13m by 1.1m and excavated to a maximum depth of 0.5m. Dark brown topsoil 0.3m deep containing modern finds overlay orange/brown boulder clay containing many large boulders. The trench was located across the ‘natural platform’ in the south-west corner of the site perpendicular to the south end of Trench 3.
The archaeological assessment did not locate any soils, features or finds of archaeological significance
15 Trinity Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth
