County: Galway Site name: COOLTYMURRAGHY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A024/4.2
Author: Julianna O’Donoghue, Eachtra Archaeological Projects
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 577154m, N 728268m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.304208, -8.342752
The assessment, including test excavation, was carried out before the construction of the proposed N6 Galway–Ballinasloe road scheme. The proposed scheme will be a dual carriageway, 56km in length, extending from the east side of Galway city, at Doughiska, to the east side of Ballinasloe, at Beagh Brabazon, in Co. Roscommon. The assessment was undertaken for Galway County Council and the National Roads Authority and forms part of a wider assessment of c. 15km of the proposed N6 dual carriageway (Contract 4).
The field is located c. 800m west of Aughrim. The aim of testing was to locate the geophysical anomalies identified in the geophysical survey (ArchaeoPhysica 2004) and to establish their nature, extent and significance. In the geophysical survey, the anomalies were interpreted as possible drainage ditches; most of these were orientated east-north-east/west-south-west, with one orientated south-south-east/north-north-west. Twenty-one test-trenches were excavated.
Buildings were shown at the north-east end of this field in the 1840 first-edition OS map; these were identified in the geophysical survey (ArchaeoPhysica 2004, 52). Building remains were not uncovered in Trench 1 during testing, but Trench 1 may have been located further south than the building. The geophysical survey interprets the south-west end of the field as former wetland. The field was formerly composed of a number of smaller fields and two of the fields were separated by a ditched lane. In the western half of the field a large double-ditch field boundary with a stony bank running north-west/south-east was uncovered. Two perpendicular ditches extended to the east from this boundary, matching the ditched lane mentioned above. The ditches were 1.25m wide by 1.3m deep and were 3.8m apart. Bisecting these parallel ditches in the eastern half of the field was a curvilinear field ditch, 1m wide by 0.8m deep. In the very eastern extreme of the field, on the northern edge of the CPO, two possible rubble walls were uncovered in a very stony area. These were likely to be associated with the buildings identified on the first-edition OS map. Any further investigation was impossible, due to the limits of the CPO.
Several cultivation features were also uncovered, as was a possible circular grey charcoal-rich pit, 1m in diameter. It appears to be in an isolated area of low archaeological potential. The construction of the new N6 will directly affect this feature. In the eastern end of the field, one of the plough furrows contained a small amount of charcoal and tiny fragments of burnt bone.
Reference
ArchaeoPhysica 2004 N6 Galway to East Ballinasloe geophysical survey report. Unpublished report lodged with the DoEHLG.
Ballycurreen Industrial Estate, Kinsale Road, Cork
