County: Galway Site name: LOUGHBOWN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: GA087-178 Licence number: 03E1872
Author: Martin Jones, National Roads Design Office
Site type: Enclosure
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 582137m, N 728973m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.310733, -8.268044
The site of an enclosure in Loughbown lies on the route of the proposed N6 Galway to Ballinasloe road scheme. Some small remnants of banks remain but no longer comprise a recognisable enclosure. The proposed road will affect the southern 33% of the site. Twenty test-pits were excavated by hand within this area. They measured 1m by 1m and were arranged in a grid measuring 40m east–west by 30m.
Only a few features were recorded. South-west of the standing remains of the monument the foundation courses of a mortared stone wall and a shallow, linear, east–west cut were observed. Finds in this area included modern glass and pottery sherds and a small two-pronged iron object, probably a pitchfork. No building is shown in this location on any early map that was consulted. Elsewhere, small possible cut features were observed but these were not well defined and were not associated with diagnostic finds. Overall, the features and finds observed seem to represent agricultural activity on the site in the modern period. Further testing will be undertaken by machine prior to construction of the proposed road.
This excavation was conducted by Galway County Council and funded by the National Roads Authority under the aegis of the National Development Plan 2002–2006.
Galway County Council
