2005:848 - ADDERGOOLE, Laois

An assessment was carried out in advance of the proposed M7 Portlaoise–Castletown/M8 Portlaoise–
Cullahill motorway scheme between February and June 2005. The work was carried out in March 2005 on behalf of Laois County Council and the National Roads Authority. The section described in this report is Testing Area 11 of Contract 1. Contract 1 of the project incorporated the Portlaoise–Cullahill section of the scheme, consisting of c. 14km of motorway, which extends from Aghaboe to south of Cullahill through the townlands from Gortnaclea to Oldtown. Testing Area 11 was located in the townland of Addergoole, between Chainage 13300 and 12100 of the proposed scheme. The assessment methodology generally consisted of mechanically excavating a 2.15m-wide test-trench along the centre-line, with perpendicular offset trenches extending to the edge of the land-take. Two archaeological sites were identified in the area.
Addergoole 1 comprised one rectangular and three circular pits. Although no burnt mound material was associated with these features, they resembled a rectangular trough and associated pits, features usually associated with fulachta fiadh activities. A number of modern field drains were also located within this field. Subsoil for this area was predominantly orange clayey sand.
At Addergoole 2 was a spread of burnt-mound material. This was a relatively thin spread, comprising heat-shattered stone, charcoal and mid- to dark-brown silty clay. It was situated close to the stream that flowed along the west of Field 47 and, given the discovery of further burnt-mound spreads in the adjacent fields (49, 48 and 46), much of this area would appear to have been a favourable location for burnt-mound activities. Minimum dimensions: 8m east–west by 0.67m by 0.15m deep.