County: Kerry Site name: CAMP, Ballyseedy
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 03E1922
Author: Niamh O’Callaghan, Barrow Archaeological Services
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 484830m, N 612725m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.254171, -9.686889
Monitoring of all topsoil removal was undertaken before the construction of 24 dwellings with ancillary services at Camp, Ballyseedy, Tralee, commenced. The site is c. 2km south of the urban centre of Tralee. SMR 38:14, an enclosure, is located c. 200m south of the proposed development site in the townland of Skahanagh, while SMR 38:15, also an enclosure, is located a short distance to the north-east. This is also the site of a Cromwellian encampment, illustrated on the OS maps, and the reason the townland inherited its name.
The development site covers an area of 3.55 acres. Eight detached holiday dwellings are proposed for the eastern side of the site and sixteen semi-detached will be on the western and south sides. The access road extends from the north-western corner and bisects the site.
The entire area was stripped of topsoil, midbrown silt c. 0.35–0.5m deep. Sherds of modern pottery, glass—together with modern glass bottles—animal bone and waste metal were recorded throughout the upper layer of topsoil. The subsoil was yellow silty clay, but in much of the upper area the removal of topsoil revealed limestone bedrock.
Three confined areas with archaeological features were recorded. These were covered with plastic and the areas sealed off until a decision was reached pending their resolution. All were located on the service road on the northern part of the site.
Area 1 measured 8.5m by 10m and twenty features were recorded cutting the subsoil. One area of burning was recorded, but most of the features were oval pits c. 0.5m by 0.8m, with one exceptional example of a rectangular pit 1.27m by 1.8m. The fills were mostly composed of dark-brown/black charcoal-rich silt with occasional small heatshattered stones. In Area 2, 20m north of Area 1, four features were cleaned and recorded. These were all irregular-shaped pits and varied in size from 1.3m by 0.55m to 2.1m by 0.4m; they were also filled with a similar fill of dark-brown/black silt with charcoal and heat-shattered stones. In Area 3, 5m north of Area 2, two features were recorded, a square pit 1.3m by 0.8m and a linear feature, 3.9m by 0.45m. The fills were similar to those outlined above.
Sandy Lane, Barrow, Ardfert, Co. Kerry
