2004:0671 - CARAUN MORE, Galway

Two trenches were opened by hand adjacent to the site of a ringfort in Caraun More townland on the proposed N6 Galway–Ballinasloe road scheme. The proposed roadway will not impact directly on the site.

The trenches were opened in a T-formation, with Trench 1 running in an east-west direction along the southernmost limit of the road corridor and Trench 2 running perpendicularly off this. Trench 1 measured 16m in length and 1m in width; Trench 2 measured 13.7m in length and 1m in width.

Except where a former watercourse was noted, a simple basic stratigraphy obtained. Mid- to dark-brown peaty sod overlay a grey/brown loamy silt. In Trench 1 these overlay a grey silty clay containing gravel and in Trench 2 they overlay yellow/grey sandy gravel. All deposits overlay the yellow/grey glacial till.

Two small round-bottomed cuts, possible cultivation furrows, were also noted duringexcavations in Trench 1, towards the western end of the trench. These were cut into the glacial till and filled by grey silty clay.

The broad former watercourse had become filled with a series of deposits and was no longer functional. The watercourse or stream seemed to have run around the eastern side of the enclosure and away towards the north-west. The full extent of the channel could not be established.

Five fills were noted within the channel in Trench 1 and three within Trench 2. These took the form of water-sorted clays, sandy gravels and peats. In both cases the peaty sod overlay the deposits filling the channel. None of the deposits contained diagnostic material.

A modern, machine-cut drainage channel was also noted at the site. The drain followed the line of the former watercourse and had become filled with a dark peaty wash.

Galway County Council