County: Waterford Site name: CARRIGANORE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A009/000
Author: Robert O'Hara, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 655342m, N 611870m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.255764, -7.189397
An assessment took place of a wooded area in the grounds of Carriganore House, Woodstown. The mature mixed woodland along the proposed route of the N25 Waterford bypass is home to an active badger set and is planted around an outcrop of conglomerate old red sandstone. This outcrop showed signs of extensive quarrying, probably dating from the 19th century. The site was tested by means of mechanically excavated trenches around the base of the outcrop, with a number of hand-excavated trenches at the top of the outcrop. The area was also subjected to a metal-detection survey. While a number of objects were recovered by metal detection and through excavation, only one object, a copper-alloy pendant, is potentially medieval in date. The remaining items are heavily corroded iron objects such as nails, wire, or unidentifiable objects.
The site is not archaeologically significant. A double bank feature noted within the wooded area comprised two banks of similar size flanking a shallow gully. One of the banks was revetted with large blocks of quarried conglomerate old red sandstone for much of its length. The banks were obscured by undergrowth and in places disturbed by root action. The line of this feature corresponds to the original limits of the wooded area as plotted on the first-edition OS map. The feature is contemporary to an alignment of roughly hewn or quarried rocks from the outcrop, which delimited the original area of the wood. The boulders were later augmented by the addition of mortared stones, forming a boundary wall.
Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth
