2006:1319 - LISNAMUCK AND TEMPLEMICHAEL GLEBE: Phase I Camlin Village Development, Longford

The first phase of monitoring of the Camlin village residential development, Lisnamuck and Templemichael Glebe, Co. Longford, was carried out in September 2006. The development comprises building just under 200 houses and associated roads and services. The main part of the proposed development covers an area c. 560m north–south by c. 160m, and to the south-east an access road extends a further c. 370m. The development is bounded by the River Camlin to the west, the new N7 Longford bypass to the north, and by the Green Isle food factory and Panelto Foods and Enterprise Centre construction sites to the south-east.

Three monuments are situated along the boundaries of the site. To the north-east of the development is a ringfort (LF013–015), which has been surrounded by a 30m buffer zone in which no groundworks may take place. To the south and south-west and just outside of the development is the site of a castle (LF013–017) and Templemichael Glebe church and graveyard (LF013–016). The access road for the development has been designed to skirt these monuments, and programmes of geophysical survey and test-trenching were carried out in order to identify archaeological remains associated with either the castle or graveyard along the path of the road; none were found (testing by Emer Dennehy, Excavations 2004, No. 1054, 04E1522). Groundworks along the access road in the vicinity of the castle and the church and graveyard will, in any case, consist of raising the existing ground level and therefore will not impact on any as of yet unidentified associated archaeological remains.

Phase I of monitoring for the development comprised parts of the site in which infrastructural works were proposed, such as roads (a main spine road and eight side roads) and the large drainage services that generally run below roads. The majority of these roads were monitored and handed over to the developer, but it was not possible to complete the monitoring programme due to extensive flooding, and part of a minor road in the vicinity of the ringfort to the north of the site has not yet been investigated.

Numerous features of possible archaeological interest were encountered and further investigated, but, because none of the features revealed artefacts that could be used for dating, it was difficult to assess their significance. It is possible that a number of fire-pits excavated to the south of the site and the possible cremation pit excavated to the north-west are part of larger clusters of archaeological features that will be revealed during later (Phase II) monitoring works.

The most significant finding to date was a probable fulacht fiadh. The feature comprised a mound of burnt stone, charcoal and burnt clay that measured 11.1m by 8m. A small test-pit was excavated in the centre of the mound, and the natural subsoil was found to slope steeply below the burnt material, which measured 0.2m thick at one side and 0.54m thick at the other, probably indicating a trough. The area of archaeological significance around this feature measures c. 15m in diameter and includes possible post-holes. The developer was advised that this would require full excavation in the near future, or else should be carefully protected pending resolution.

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