County: Wexford Site name: CASTLELAND, Ferns
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 01E1182
Author: Michael Tierney and Stuart Elder, Eachtra Archaeological Projects
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 701311m, N 649054m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.583330, -6.505013
Testing took place in advance of the development of an extension to Scoil Naomh Maodhóg in Ferns. The extension was to be built on the play area at the western side of the existing school buildings, and would come to within 30m of the 13th-century Ferns Castle.
A series of trenches were excavated mechanically along the line of the foundations in the northern half of the site, revealing a depth of 0.25m of stone chippings and gravel (bedding layer for the tarmac), below which the clay-rich subsoil occurred. There was no evidence of topsoil at any point along the line of the trenches.
In the southern half it was necessary to lower the ground level by as much as 1m in order to reach formation level. A small portion of grassed area measuring c. 20m east–west by 4m, at the extreme southern end, was also incorporated into the development. Here the clay substrate occurred 0.25m beneath the sod.
Nothing of archaeological significance was found during this testing.
9 Riveroaks, Riverstown, Birr, Co. Offaly
