2003:1149 - CASTLETROY: Castletroy Distributor Road, Kilbane, Limerick

Limerick County Council constructed the first phase of a distributor road scheme in September 2003. An assessment had been carried out and monitoring was in place when the scheme commenced. Phase 1 was 400m in length and extended through three fields, from the Golf Links Road in the west to School House Lane in the east. The central field contained an enclosure. The initial (western) 220m was in cut. The remainder of the development was in fill and the underlying geology meant that only the sod and topsoil was stripped in this area.

A series of features were uncovered during the monitoring. Those in the fill area were preserved in situ, those in the cut were excavated. The features in fill consisted of seven field drains, six possible pits and four small concentrations of charcoal in the third field and twenty small pits/deposits, two linear features, a rectangular feature and a possible drain in the central field.

The majority of the excavated features in the central field were post-medieval in date. Six trenches/drains, six pits, five possible post-pits and eleven stake-holes were recorded within the excavated area. A shallow, roughly circular, trench enclosed an area of 4.2m. The first field contained three pits, four very long drains and traces of plough furrows. Four pits containing cremated burials were also excavated, including one pit with multiple burials; two other pits which might contain cremations were recorded. The first and second fields were stripped to the north of the road for a housing development and a significant number of cremations were subsequently excavated (No. 1151, Excavations 2003).

County Buildings, Dooradoyle, Co. Limerick