County: Offaly Site name: TULLAMORE: Church View/Hophill Road
Sites and Monuments Record No.: OF017-009 Licence number: 04E0065
Author: Finn Delaney, Dominic Delany & Associates
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 634723m, N 724648m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.271036, -7.479439
Testing was undertaken at a development site at Hophill, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, on 28 January 2004. A 'habitation site' is listed as being within the boundaries of the proposed development. There were no visible surface traces of the site. Testing involved the excavation of four trenches in the south-west corner of the development site that were located to correspond with the proposed footprint of the development in the area which was seen as the most likely location of the archaeological site.
Testing revealed a relatively uniform stratigraphy across the tested area. A thin sod layer lay on top of a dark-brown/black silty clay, which in turn lay on top of a fine grey natural sand. The depth of the topsoil varied according to the topography (shallower on the slightly raised ground). A layer of sandy clay revealed in the western half of Trench 3 was probably related to the construction of the road or field boundary running along the southern edge of the proposed site. It may also be related to a disused entrance gate located in the extreme south-western corner of the site. The peaty nature of the topsoil was thought to be a result of the waterlogging noted at the interface between the topsoil and the underlying natural. Nothing of any archaeological significance was recorded in any of the trenches.
Unit 3, Howley Court, Oranmore, Co. Galway
