County: Sligo Site name: CLOONACOOL
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 31:25 Licence number: 03E0001
Author: Mary Henry, Mary Henry Archaeological Services Ltd.
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 549124m, N 817132m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.100753, -8.777857
Pre-construction testing was undertaken at the site of a proposed housing development at Cloonacool, a small village outside Tobercurry, Co. Sligo. The site is close to a ringfort. Twenty trenches were opened. Testing concentrated on areas of greatest disturbance and on four surface anomalies which were identified in the course of an impact assessment.
The anomalies all turned out to be natural features. A number of furrows were identified, of many and varied widths and alignments, across the development. None pre-dated the post-medieval period. One pit was found. The high preservation of the burnt-wood particles within a fill of non-preservative attributes confirms that this wood is of modern deposit, probably the result of modern agricultural practice. The alignment and width of the furrows that cut this feature suggest they are of modern origin, and the depth of the pit in section suggests that they are all cut from the same level, with the pit possibly just pre-dating the furrows. Drainage ditches were identified in one trench, in a part of the site which is prone to flooding (near the River Moy).
Apart from agricultural activities (drainage ditches, furrows and vegetation burning) of relatively recent date, no archaeological remains were found on the site.
17 Staunton Row, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary
