County: Sligo Site name: RATHBRAGHAN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 01E1070
Author: Martin Fitzpatrick, Arch. Consultancy Ltd.
Site type: Burnt mound
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 570045m, N 837699m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.287201, -8.460042
This project was concerned with the monitoring, in October 2001, of ground disturbance associated with the construction of a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, as stipulated in the planning conditions.
The level of topsoil was greatest in the west, but throughout the land was poor and prone to flooding. Removal of topsoil in the north and south revealed a light brown natural subsoil, which was sterile throughout. In the central low-lying area the removal of topsoil revealed a white/grey chalk-like material. In addition to the area of the proposed plant, topsoil was also stripped in the field to the west of the development site, to facilitate the piling of topsoil. The removal of topsoil for the access road in the south of the site revealed an area of burnt clay and stones forming a low mound, which may represent a burnt mound or fulacht fiadh.
Occasional 20th-century pottery and glass fragments were recovered from the topsoil. Apart from the discovery of the burnt mound feature, no features/artefacts of archaeological significance were found.
The mound was directly affected by the development and it was recommended that it be manually excavated. This was undertaken in January/February 2002 and will be reported on in next year’s bulletin.
Ballydavid South, Athenry, Co. Galway
