County: Waterford Site name: N25 ROAD REALIGNMENT SCHEME, Kilmacthomas
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0623
Author: Michael Tierney, Eachtra Archaeological Projects
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 639180m, N 606123m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.205491, -7.426767
Stripping and testing of the remainder of an 8km stretch of countryside in advance of a new road began in November and December 1999. This was the second phase of the project, which up until then mostly consisted of the excavation of a series of nearly contiguous prehistoric and medieval sites.
The preferred method of stripping was to take a 2m-wide trench through the development along its length. The road-take was on average 30m wide. The test-trench was mostly excavated along the centre line of the works, with similarly sized trenches being cut every 25m to the left or right, at right angles to the central trench. Trenches were cut outside this pattern when necessary to test individual features and anomalies. Such an approach was found to be an effective testing procedure, which greatly enhanced the chances of finding archaeological remains. This method revealed the presence of several previously unknown sites.
Editor’s note: The summary of this excavation, which was carried out during 1999, arrived too late for publication in the bulletin of that year.
Riveroaks, Riverstown, Co. Offaly
