2006:853 - BAILE NA BUAILE, Kerry

In late 2005 planning permission was applied for to erect ten dwelling houses with all associated services at Baile na Buaile, near An Daingean. Due to the presence of a ringfort, KE043–218, an impact assessment including test excavations was requested. As permission was refused for the application in early March 2006, it was decided to carry out testing in order to establish the possible existence or otherwise of archaeological deposits resulting from external activity relating to occupation of the ringfort. These test excavations would then serve as a guide to whether the standard 20m buffer zone for an archaeological monument would be sufficient in this case.
Test excavations were undertaken on 11 March 2006, all works carried out using a mechanical digger with toothless bucket. Three long trenches averaging 1.3m in width were excavated. The topsoil in all three trenches was a mid-brown sandy silt with occasional small to medium-sized stones. The natural subsoil was a sterile mottled grey/orange silt with few inclusions.
The trenches excavated were positioned to the south-east (Trenches 1 and 2) and east (Trench 3) of the ringfort. Testing to the east was restricted to a single trench due to the fact that Rows 2 and 3 of the mobile homes and their services made testing physically impractical.
Trench 1 measured 50m in length and at its closest point lay 15m from the ringfort. The topsoil in this trench had an average depth of c. 0.45m. A shallow field drain (width 0.7m, depth 0.2m) filled with a loose mixture of dark-brown silt and stones ran north-north-west to south-south-east across this trench at a distance of 20m from its northern end. Nothing of an archaeological nature was recovered from this feature. A large purple sandstone erratic boulder was encountered some 14m from the southern end of this trench. This was c. 1.1m in length and over 0.5m in thickness. The boulder was lifted from its bed to ascertain whether it might cover a souterrain or other archaeological feature, but it proved to have been firmly set in sterile subsoil.
Trench 2 ran parallel to Trench 1 and was 8m further to the south-east. At its closest point it lay 23m from the ringfort. It was 50m in length and had an average topsoil depth of c. 0.4m. Nothing of an archaeological nature was encountered in this trench.
Trench 3 was 35m in length, with an average topsoil depth of c. 0.7m. At its closest point – its north-western end – Trench 3 was c. 16m from the ringfort.
Nothing of an identifiably archaeological nature was encountered during test excavation. The only man-made feature encountered was a shallow field drain in Trench 1, which yielded no anthropogenic material of any kind and which was deemed to be probably modern in date, judging from its appearance and consistency.