County: Donegal Site name: GOLAND LOWER
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 77:29 Licence number: 05E1158
Author: Sinclair Turrell, ADS Ltd, Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Dublin 3.
Site type: No archaeological significance
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 600294m, N 902032m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.866115, -7.995409
A 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. A possible standing stone is located in the southern corner of the site.
Eight trenches were excavated across the site using a mechanical excavator fitted with a toothless bucket. The excavation alongside the supposed standing stone showed it to post-date the construction of a stone-lined field drain, which appears to be associated with the construction of the railway line. The trench showed that the drain ran under the ‘standing stone’, which means that the stone was not placed here in antiquity. It is possible that the stone itself was erected in antiquity but that it was standing along the route of the railway and was simply moved during the construction. This could explain local tradition associated with the site. However, it is more likely that the stone was simply erected to mark the start of the drain, but again this cannot be proved. Similarly placed stones are visible in the adjacent fields and it is possible that they also indicated the location of field drains.
