County: Donegal Site name: CROAGHONAGH
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 05E1159
Author: Sinclair Turrell, ADS Ltd.
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 607526m, N 888941m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.748438, -7.883103
Test excavation was conducted at this site in advance of the proposed N15 Ballybofey–Stranorlar bypass. This site is located adjacent to the disused railway in a field of unimproved pasture on a hillside that slopes gently downwards to the north. A north–south-running low bank of large limestone slabs, overgrown with mosses and grass, was identified as a possible pre-bog wall in the EIS (AAP9). The wall survives aboveground for a distance of c. 35m and is on average 0.8m wide and 0.3m high. The site was characterised by a system of ‘lazy beds’, which are visible on both sides of the road, indicating that the field was cultivated in the past.
Fourteen trenches were excavated across the site using a mechanical excavator fitted with a toothless bucket. Nine stone-lined drains were uncovered. These drains appeared to be associated with the construction of the railway. One of the drains ran under the possible pre-bog wall, indicating that these stones were marking the line of the drain. Nothing of archaeological significance was found within the limits of the test excavation.
Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Dublin 3