County: Limerick Site name: Ballyvareen, Kildimo
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LI012–009 Licence number: 06E1100
Author: Mary Henry, Mary Henry Archaeological Services Ltd, 17 Staunton Row, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
Site type: Burnt mounds, modern drainage features
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 545456m, N 652950m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.625044, -8.805614
Nineteen test-trenches were opened on the site of a proposed housing development to the east of the village of Kildimo. The nearest monument to the site is an enclosure, situated just inside its north boundary. A buffer zone of 30m diameter will be positioned around the enclosure and protected by a permanent fence.
A large number of furrows were revealed across the full extent of the site, confirming the extensive agricultural manipulation of this area. All the furrows were parallel, of similar dimension and straight-sided. This would confirm they could not have been cut prior to the late 18th century and the invention of the Scots plough.
The anomaly highlighted in an earlier fieldwalk proved to be a man-made feature, although not of great antiquity. Local information has revealed that this type of feature is synonymous with wet boggy ground in this part of Limerick and known locally as a branch drain. This entails the removal of a particularly waterlogged area to solid ground. Brushwood and soil are packed into the hole, which is then covered in topsoil. The construction of this feature conforms to this method, which became widespread with the introduction of mechanical diggers. They can therefore be no earlier than the middle to later years of the 20th century.
Initially it was thought that a feature identified in Trench 15 was a removed field boundary. This was based on the fact the feature was cut from within the topsoil, with its upper fill comprising topsoil-like material. However, examination of the first-edition OS map (1841) shows no internal boundaries within this site. Although it is possible a boundary was removed prior to this date, it is considered unlikely. The provenance of this linear feature is therefore, at present, undiagnostic.
The remains of two burnt mounds were discovered. Unusually for this type of feature they were both positioned on the upper slope of a natural ridge and not anywhere near its lowest point. No obvious water source was present, although water did spring from the base of some of the trenches whilst they were cut. It is therefore possible these burnt mounds were positioned on springs which have since run dry. Either way, it confirms the presence of human activity within this particular landscape.
