2002:0754 - RAHEEN, Galway

Pre-development testing was undertaken at the site of a proposed residential development at Raheen, Athenry, which was in the area of the possible roadway (SMR 84:118). The site of a road is not indicated on the first or subsequent editions of the OS map. The SMR map indicates a trackway running north-east/south-west from the avenue of the Rectory building along the line of the present roadway in the townland of Ballygarraun South. The exact location of the roadway is unclear, but it is possible that it skirts the south and south-eastern side of the development site. Field-walking in the area did not reveal anything of significance.

Three trenches, all 1m wide and situated in the south and south-east of the proposed development, were manually excavated. Trench A, at the eastern end of the site, to the rear of an existing dwelling-house, was oriented north-west/south-east, 20m long and excavated to a depth of 0.45m. Trench B, south-west of Trench A, was oriented north-west/south-east, 25m long and 0.6m in maximum depth. Trench C, in the south of the site, was 15m long and excavated to a depth of 0.9m. In all trenches the removal of sod and topsoil uncovered a well-compacted, light to mid-brown, friable, sandy clay with occasional medium-sized stones. Occasional glass and 20th-century pottery fragments were recovered from this layer.

Underlying the light to mid-brown, sandy clay in Trench A was a well-compacted layer of natural subsoil comprising a yellow/brown clay with no inclusions. In the north-west of the trench, bedrock was found underlying the subsoil, and in the south-east there was a loose, grey, gravelly natural. At the north-west end of Trench B a layer of angular stones was found immediately below the sod and topsoil. Elsewhere in the trench a well-compacted natural subsoil lay below the light to mid-brown, sandy clay. Bedrock was found below the subsoil in the north-west, and natural gravel was found in the south-east. No artefacts of archaeological significance were encountered. In Trench C an irregularly shaped cut was uncovered off-centre to the south-east; this cut through the light to mid-brown, sandy clay in the south-east and had bedrock at its north-western edge. The cut sloped from south-east to north-west and had a maximum depth of 0.64m. The fill comprised a large deposit of large and small, angular stones. Elsewhere in the trench the stratigraphy was similar to that in Trenches A and B.

Two deposits of stone were uncovered in Trenches B and C. In the deposit in Trench C the stones formed the fill of an irregularly shaped cut, which on the north-west side was bounded by bedrock and on the south-east was cut into subsoil and the natural boulder clay. The deposits of stone may tentatively be interpreted as the foundations of a roadway, but the stones protruded from the ground and would not have provided a smooth road surface. It was recommended that further excavations at the site be monitored.

Ballydavid South, Athenry, Co. Galway