County: Laois Site name: CAPPALOUGHLIN/CLONARD
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A015/050
Author: Aidan O’Connell, for Archaeological Services Consultancy Ltd, Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth.
Site type: Charcoal-production pits, furnace and hearth
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 637686m, N 690513m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.964062, -7.439026
The archaeological assessment of Contract 3, Testing Area 9 of the M7 Portlaoise–Castletown/M8 Portlaoise–Cullahill motorway scheme, involved the mechanical excavation of 123 test-trenches. These had a combined length of 4682.81m, resulting in a total excavated area of 10068.04m2, or c. 8.91% of the total area (112,986m2). The testing area is situated in the townland of Clonard or Cappaloughlin at Chainage 25900–27100. Testing Area 9 consisted of eight separate fields: Plot 272, Field 270; Plot 215, Fields 268 and 264; Plot 273, Fields 265, 266 and 267; Plot 211, Fields 260/261 and 257.
A portion of Testing Area 9 was identified as an area of archaeological potential. This was identified in the EIS as a cropmark (ID5) and located in Field 260. This site was not archaeological in nature, but a number of other archaeological features were recorded during the assessment. A charcoal-production pit in Plot 272, Field 270, has been designated Clonard or Cappaloughlin 1. A hearth in Plot 273, Field 265, has been designated Clonard or Cappaloughlin 2. A bowl furnace in Plot 211, Field 260/261, has been designated Clonard or Cappaloughlin 3. The charcoal-production pit and the bowl furnace were excavated in the course of the assessment after additional topsoil-stripping was undertaken around them. The hearth was half-sectioned and may require further excavation. Although the three features were located at some distance from each other, they may be interpreted as broadly associated in the context of late prehistoric/early medieval woodland management associated with the production of metal ore.
The remainder of the recorded features at Testing Area 9 were non-archaeological. Field boundary ditches were recorded in Fields 257, 260/261, 265 and 270. In addition, the cropmark site from the EIS (ID5) was tested and found to be non-archaeological.
