County: Westmeath Site name: CARTRONKEEL/MOATEGRANOGE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 04E1577
Author: Finn Delaney, Dominic Delany & Associates
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 618946m, N 738466m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.396008, -7.715133
Pre-development testing was undertaken at a site in Cartronkeel/Moategranoge, Moate, Co. Westmeath. Ten trenches were excavated from 17 to 19 January 2005. The southern portion of the development site is located within the area of constraint surrounding a cemetery (SMR 30:113) and a bullaun stone (SMR 30:117). The cemetery is the site of a Quaker burial ground and is separated from the development site by a boundary wall. The development plan has maintained a 30m buffer zone from the boundary wall surrounding the burial ground.
Ten long trenches were excavated across the proposed footprint of the development. The stratigraphy across the site varied in relation to the topography. In general the topsoil across the site was uniform and consisted of dark-brown/orange silty clay ranging in depth from 0.3 to 0.6m. The subsoil varied substantially but tended to be a sandy orange gravel on the higher ground and a paler silty sand elsewhere. A very plastic silty clay subsoil or marl was noted in the lowest areas of the site, which corresponded to boggy waterlogged areas.
One possible archaeological feature was noted in Trench 1. It appeared to be a shallow charcoal-lined pit cut into the natural subsoil. The pit ran into the southern section of Trench 1 and was only partially revealed in the base of the trench. The feature was not excavated but was cleaned back to reveal its extent within the base of the trench. It was 0.8m long and was 0.2m at its widest point. No finds were identified in association with the feature. Further archaeological investigation of this feature was recommended.
Unit 3, Howley Court, Oranmore, Co. Galway
