2006:824 - MACKNEY, Galway

This was one of several excavations undertaken for Galway County Council and the National Roads Authority which form part of a wider excavation programme undertaken within c. 15 km of the proposed N6 Galway to Ballinasloe dual carriageway scheme (Contract 4).

An area of 484m2 was machine stripped then cleaned by hand. The site consists of a modern curvilinear field drain aligned east–west with a return to the north, an 18th-century curvilinear stone field drain aligned north–south with a return to the west, a shallow linear gully aligned south-east to north-west and a field/property boundary ditch aligned east–west. There was also a small pit to the south-east of the site and the shallow remains of three pits. There was a small isolated post-hole in the south-western corner. The artefact assemblage consisted of a single piece of iron slag recovered from the eastern end of the east–west ditch.

Situated in a natural hollow, the area of excavation was prone to flooding. This explains the concentration of drainage features. The earliest of these, the gully, drained the higher, drier ground in the south-eastern corner. It terminated at the lowest point in the landscape and was truncated at this point by the modern field drains. The rubbish pits were truncated by the gully and, along with the small pit in the south-eastern corner, may represent activity contemporary with the east–west ditch. The pits could also be contemporary with the Bronze Age site (see No. 826, Excavations 2006, E2445) to the south-west. The small circular pit situated on the well-drained, higher, stonier ground was a small fire-pit or hearth. There was no evidence for habitation associated with this feature. The east–west ditch may be a field/property boundary associated with Mackney ringfort (see No. 826, Excavations 2006, A024/10, E2444). It may also be a property boundary unrelated to any other feature in the landscape.

Ballycurreen Industrial Estate, Kinsale Road, Cork