County: Westmeath Site name: TULLAGHAN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 01E0265
Author: Finola O’Carroll, Cultural Resource Development Services Ltd.
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 640596m, N 755615m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.548892, -7.387414
Pre-development testing took place on 13 April 2001 on a site c. 300m north of Tullaghan Castle (SMR 19:4) and overlooking Lough Owel to the north. An area 50m north–south by 30m was selected for testing, covering the area to be stripped for topsoil for the building and associated carpark.
Six trenches were excavated by mechanical digger: four ran north–south across the area to be stripped and two ran east–west across the site of the proposed building.
The subsoil consisted of yellow boulder clay with silt/sand and gravel components, these increasing towards the west and south. The first trench exposed a layer of mottled clay and grey silt directly above subsoil, overlain by c. 0.2m of topsoil. The next three trenches exposed a layer of light grey silty sand directly above subsoil, and a second layer of yellow clay silt 0.2m in depth, overlain by c. 0.2m of topsoil.
The fifth and sixth trenches were similar in profile, with a larger percentage of gravel mixed with the yellow boulder clay, overlain by a layer of silty sand 0.15m in depth, with a second layer of yellow silt overlying this some 0.18m in depth, and 0.2m of topsoil.
Nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered and no further mitigation measures were recommended.
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