2004:1144 - CREAGHANBOY, Mayo

Testing in advance of pipelaying associated with the Lough Mask regional water supply scheme, Stage I, Contract 6, Balla to Ballyhean, took place within thearea of constraint of ecclesiastical remains (possible), a church (possible) and a children's burial ground. There were no physical remains of these sites extant above ground; however, the south-eastern half of the children's burial ground was destroyed in the late 19th century during construction of the Belcarra–Manulla road. The north-western side of the children's burial ground was destroyed in the early 1990s during the construction a house.

A 70m-long strip of pipeline wayleave parallel to the road, c. 15m wide, was tested. Four trenches, 2m by 5m, laid out perpendicular to the Belcarra–Manulla road, were hand-excavated. A fifth, machine-cut trench, 0.5m wide and 50m long, was excavated within the road verge at the western part of the area of archaeological constraint.

As nothing of archaeological significance was discovered during the excavation of the hand trenches, the remaining test area was stripped mechanically to undisturbed natural boulder clay. A feature of the test area was the intense degree of agricultural furrow activity encountered. As topsoil-stripping was nearing completion, a human burial was encountered.

The burial was discovered in a shallow grave-cut. The cut measured 1.6m long by 0.3m wide and had a maximum depth of 0.13m. It was aligned east-west and cut into the compact natural. The base was irregular and stony, sloping from west to east. The cut contained a uniform fill, a mid-greyish-brown silty clay containing occasional large and small stones.

The skeleton was 1.57m in length. From the top of the skull to the ankles was 1.45m in length. The skull was lying on one side facing south and the body was in a supine position. The upper arms were parallel to the ribcage and were crossed at the wrists with the right arm under the left, just over the pelvic area. The legs were straight with the ankles touching. The left side of the skeleton was at a slightly higher level than the right side, possibly due to the cut being so narrow.

There was good preservation of the bones, although there was some damage to the upper ribs on the right side, the skull and the left humerus, possibly a result of plough action. Prior to removal, the sternum and the pelvis were broken, the left femur was cracked and four lower ribs on the right side were also cracked. The upper ends of the ribs seem to be missing and were possibly removed during ploughing. There was no evidence of coffin remains. There were no artefacts associated with the burial.

Osteoarchaeological results indicated that the remains are those of a female of between 25 and 35 years. A radiocarbon date for the remains is pending.

On completion of the excavation of the grave, the boundary wall between the test area and the Belcarra–Manulla road was breached. At this point, where the pipeline diverted from the road into the test area, a curved linear feature was identified under the stone boundary wall. Excavation demonstrated that the feature was part of a substantial ditch, V-shaped in section and c. 1.4m deep, which pre-dates the field wall and ran under the existing road.

It was only possible to excavate the portion of this feature (c. 11m long), which lay within the County Council wayleave. The upper fill of the ditch consisted of a compact orange/brown silty clay with large amounts of animal bone throughout. Beneath this lay a compact greyish-brown silty clay. This fill also contained occasional animal bone and snail shells. The base of the ditch contained a linear deposit of large stones within a loose silty clay. The stones were concentrated along the south-facing side of the trench.

At the eastern end of the excavated section of the ditch, a subcircular bowl furnace was found cut into the northern side of the ditch and upper ditch fill. This feature measured 0.62m east-west by 0.53m and 0.35m deep. It was lined with fire-reddened clay and filled with a mix of charcoal-stained soil and iron slag. The bowl furnace post-dates the ditch and ditch fill but pre-dates the construction of the Belcarra–Manulla road, which overlay part of the feature.

Coosan, Athlone, Co. Westmeath