County: Sligo Site name: CARROWNANTY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 20:89 Licence number: 02E1840
Author: Dominic Delany
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 565532m, N 815381m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.086382, -8.526797
Monitoring of topsoil removal was carried out on the site of a proposed residential development at Carrownanty, Ballymote, Co. Sligo, from 16 to 18 December 2002. The site lies 60m north-east of a ringfort. The development area comprises a narrow strip of land (c. 200m by 50m) located between the railway line and the northern approach road to Ballymote. The land is quite boggy and there are deep drainage ditches running adjacent to the railway line and road along the eastern and western edges of the site. Seven plots of land, each containing the site of two proposed semi-detached houses, were stripped of topsoil over a three-day period. The topsoil was grey/brown to black silt with an average thickness of 0.5m. It overlay light yellow/brown and grey sticky clay subsoil, which accounts for the poor drainage in the area. Two irregular spreads of burnt orange material (average dimensions 13m by 5m) were discovered just below the sod. The only finds were occasional charcoal lenses and brick fragments, the latter suggesting a relatively modern date for this material. Local information suggests the burnt material came from brick ovens associated with a specific bakery which operated in the town in the early/mid-20th century. This seems a likely explanation, particularly given the presence of occasional brick fragments in the burnt material. No archaeological material was discovered.
Editor's note: Although excavated in 2002, the report on this site was received too late for inclusion in the bulletin of that year.
Unit 3, Howley Court, Oranmore, Co. Galway