County: Roscommon Site name: BALLINTOBER
Sites and Monuments Record No.: RMP 27:48(02) Licence number: 00E0763
Author: Christine Grant
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 572494m, N 774194m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.716700, -8.416700
Test excavation took place before construction of a private dwelling. The site lies directly south of Ballintober Castle and is also within the zone of archaeological potential designated by the urban survey for Ballintober town, SMR 34:4.
Six test-cuttings were opened. A stone feature was uncovered at the northern end of the site. This consisted of quarried limestone deliberately placed to create a fairly level surface. The majority are large stones, with smaller stones between. It would appear to be a form of linear paving running roughly east to west. The exposed area was 3.6m long and was exposed to a width of 0.6m. There appeared to be just one layer of these stones. There was a fine gravel material in the area around the stones, perhaps some form of bedding layer.
There were no artefacts directly associated with this feature but several small sherds of glazed red ware were recovered in the topsoil above, including a rim sherd, probably from a dish. It may indicate post-medieval activity on the site. However, in the same stratum two pieces of thin-walled white modern glazed ware were also recovered, along with a fragment of modern glass, all from the topsoil. Several other sherds of glazed red ware were recovered on the site, all from the topsoil.
At the south end of the site, where the house was to be built, a pit was uncovered. It was 1.25m wide and was exposed for a length of 1.1m. It had a regular squared profile on its western side and an irregular profile to the east. It would appear that the fill of this feature was mostly topsoil, with the addition of a charcoal lens on the east side and a pocket of grey brown silty clay at the base. The position of stones along the west side of the section indicates an episode of silting. A small number of animal bones were recovered from the feature, but no diagnostic finds.
Although neither of the features provided any diagnostic evidence on which to date the activity on the site they do highlight the potential for discovery of archaeological remains. Avoidance measures were recommended along with monitoring of the construction.
Editor's note: Although this excavation took place during 2000, the report was not received in time for inclusion in the bulletin of that year.
Crossard, Kilnaboy, Co. Clare
