2005:329 - INCH LEVEL/BALLYDEROWEN, Donegal

Pre-development testing was undertaken at a site in Inch Level/Ballyderowen, Burnfoot, Co. Donegal, on 5 and 6 April 2005. The development proposals envisaged the construction of 44 houses and associated site works and the construction of a wastewater treatment plant and percolation area. The proposed development site is located to the south of Burnfoot village. Prior to the construction of the Inch embankment and the resulting land reclamation the sea ran right up to the village of Burnfoot. The proposed development site may have been fully submerged prior to this time or at best it was a marshy slobland subject to flooding at high tide. There are no recorded monuments within the immediate vicinity of Burnfoot.

Six long trenches were excavated across the proposed footprint of the development The topsoil across the development site was relatively thin, averaging c. 0.3m in depth. The stratigraphy across all six trenches was remarkably similar. There were very few inclusions of any sort, with only a number of modern ceramic fragments noted from the topsoil. The trenches were all very cleanly excavated and conditions were ideal for identifying features, but nothing of any archaeological significance was noted in any of the trenches.

Unit 3, Howley Court, Oranmore, Co. Galway