County: Sligo Site name: GORTALOUGH, Ballinafad
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 40:189, 40:190 Licence number: 97E0339 ext.
Author: Martin A. Timoney
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 578160m, N 808758m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.027563, -8.333330
Arrow Community Enterprises Ltd, Castlebaldwin, Co. Sligo, are developing a site for the National Field Study Centre in Gortalough, Co. Sligo. This is at the east end of the Ballinafad Valley between the CurlewMountains and the Bricklieve Mountains.
The west half of the proposed development area is within the constraint areas of the medieval Red Earl’s Road and the small military Ballinafad Castle, ‘The Castle of the Curlews’ of 1590 or 1610 (Waterman 1961).
During previous site testing (Excavations 1997, 155) some flints, late pottery, clay pipes and metal slag were found. The only features were several drains and a ditch that looked archaeological.
The current development work and monitoring began on 2 December 2000, and by 24 December over 75% of the area had been dug out, despite water coming from every possible direction. Two mountain streams flow towards the land from the south. In addition to the drains found in 1997, several more drains and modern water pipes were uncovered. These all indicate a long history of attempting to drain this land.
Monitoring continued sporadically well into 2000, and site development works involving ground disturbance lasted until September. Further drains were found, emphasising what we already knew. There were no further small finds and no context for those found during the test excavations.
Reference
Waterman, D.M. 1961 Descriptions of five 17th-century houses in County Sligo. In E.M. Jope (ed.), Essays in building history. London.
Bóthar An Corran, Keash, Co. Sligo
