County: Limerick Site name: Pallasgrean
Sites and Monuments Record No.: - Licence number: 05E0773
Author: Colm Moloney, Headland Archaeology Ltd, Unit 1, Wallingstown Business Park, Little Island, Cork.
Site type: Monitoring
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 576070m, N 644256m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.549110, -8.352820
Monitoring of a proposed pipeline at Pallasgrean, Co. Limerick, was undertaken on behalf of Limerick County Council. The monitoring took place across six fields, numbered one to six. Two of these fields produced limited archaeological material.
Field 2 saw the land rise to form a ridge running in a north-east/south-west direction, probably a natural feature in the landscape. A feature was located on top of this rise. The remains were very thin and may represent a single-use hearth. The spread was located on the southern side of the rise and did not show any evidence for in situ burning; it may have been washed in or deposited from the nearby stream.
Field 5 yielded a shallow pit, measuring 1.7m north–south by 0.8m and 0.14m in depth, located 33m from the southern field boundary. This pit consisted of three separate fills, one of which contained burnt bone and much charcoal. Initial analysis of the bone indicates that it may be human and represents a cremation deposit. It appears that this was an isolated feature within the boundary of the pipeline. There is the possibility that other similar features may lay outside the bounds of the development.
