2005:637 - NEW INN–DERRYFRENCH, Galway

Monitoring was undertaken on the natural gas transmission pipeline from New Inn to Tynagh in East Galway during March and April 2005. The route of the pipeline extended from the existing Gas Pipeline to the West at New Inn in a south-easterly direction and terminated at the old Tynagh Mines complex in Derryfrench, where an aboveground installation was constructed. Topsoil was removed under archaeological supervision over the entire 17km of the routeway and a total of 32 sites were investigated and resolved. Of these, 21 were individual spreads, burnt areas and pits, with no other features in the immediate vicinity. These isolated features were considered to be of potential archaeological significance by their regular shape, combined with evidence for in situ burning in many areas. All were excavated, although their precise function has to remain unclear in the absence of datable finds. One isolated pit feature contained sufficient quantities of burnt bone to suggest that it represented a cremation pit of perhaps late prehistoric date. The bones, which have been submitted for radiocarbon analysis, were extremely fragmented and it was not possible to establish whether they were human or animal in origin. Another pit contained three pieces of modified chert, as well as a possible core from which stone tools may have been struck. Both these features are likely to belong to the late prehistoric period, but this interpretation has to remain uncertain until the radiocarbon dates are returned.

Despite the absence of finds, it seems likely that the concentration of pits and post-holes at three separate locations (Sites 14, 28 and 30) in Carra and Newgrove townlands are of archaeological significance, possibly late prehistoric or early medieval in date. The remains of three possible structures with associated ditches, pits and linear trenches were found at these sites. There was no stratigraphic evidence to indicate the relative chronology of the pits and post-holes or, in the case of Site 30, the relationship of the ditch and linear trench to the post-holes and pits. The function of the possible structures and the significance of the large pits has to remain uncertain. The sites are similar, in that none produced evidence for major settlement in terms of material finds and domestic debris. In fact, there was a notable absence of finds at all three sites investigated. Neither was there much evidence for hearths and general occupation spreads and for all three sites, if we assume that they are of archaeological significance, it was not possible to determine whether they were domestic or ritual in nature. Charcoal from various post-holes from each of the locations has been submitted for radiocarbon determination and the results will ultimately place the sites in a chronological period.

The earliest known sites appear to have been the two trackways (Sites 13 and 29) identified in an extensive stretch of peat bog in Newgrove townland. These are considered to be broadly contemporary and suggest a date in the Late Bronze Age for their construction. A very poorly preserved arrangement of wooden uprights and fragmented brushwood in Cloonatloukaun may also represent the remnants of a former trackway constructed in this area of peat bog at the northern end of the pipeline route.

The western circuit of a possible ring-barrow ditch was exposed immediately adjacent to the east baulk of the pipeline corridor in Carra townland. The site is located close to a levelled barrow (SMR 98:51) listed in the Inventory of Archaeological Sites for Co. Galway. The curvilinear ditch enclosed a deep pit containing fragments of unburnt bone at the base. Both features are characteristic of a ring-barrow and burial pit synonymous with the Middle Bronze Age period. The surviving portion of the ring-ditch had been severely truncated by agricultural activity and the few fragments of bone at the base of the internal pit were too small to identify as to species and will probably not be sufficiently well preserved to use for radiocarbon dating. No mound survived and there was no trace of an external bank. There was no conclusive evidence for the function or date of the barrow and the exact chronological relationship of this and the recorded monument to the east must await the results of the radiocarbon analysis.

The discovery of 32 sites along the route of the pipeline from New Inn to Tynagh is an indicator of the hidden archaeological landscape in the East Galway region. Although many of the sites represented isolated features of unknown date or function, their presence is none the less an indicator of the potential archaeological landscape in East Galway. The precise nature and date of the activity at the various sites investigated remain unclear, but it is hoped that the radiocarbon samples which have been submitted for dating will clarify the chronology.