County: Monaghan Site name: CARA STREET, CLONES
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 11:10(02) Licence number: 05E0251
Author: Gill Mc Loughlin, Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, 8 Dungar Terrace, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.
Site type: No archaeological significance
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 650040m, N 825656m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.177428, -7.233496
Testing was undertaken at Cara Street, Clones, Co. Monaghan, in relation to a proposed housing development which was located adjacent to Clones round tower.
Four trenches were excavated across the site on 1 April 2005. The site had been built up in the recent past with clay imported from elsewhere and a layer of hardcore on top, which has resulted in the ground being at a higher level than the surrounding fields to the east, west and south. Based on the proposed development involving piling for the foundations, which will be a maximum of 0.6m below the present ground level, and the site services being totally within the imported dumped material, it was not deemed necessary to test-trench areas outside of the houses.
The trenches were excavated to depths varying from 2.1–2.6m, onto natural yellow clay in the northern part of the site and peat in the southern end. Between 0.9 and 1.3m of topsoil overlay the natural clay and peat, and this in turn was sealed by 0.8–1.5m of dumped clay and building debris and 0.2m of hardcore. No features or finds of archaeological significance were uncovered in any of the test-trenches.
