2006:1411 - Church Road, Belmullet, Mayo

Pre-development testing was carried out at Church Road, Belmullet, Co. Mayo, on 13–14 April 2006. This work was carried out as part of a programme of archaeological mitigations works in respect of a housing development. The development consists of sixteen semi-detached houses on a greenfield site at Church Road. There was a standing stone in the south-west boundary, but it was removed from its original position during the course of development works and prior to retention of archaeological consultants. An impact assessment recommended a mitigation strategy, which was subsequently approved by the department. This involved hand testing the original location of the monument and supervising the relocation of the stone in an upright position at the front of the development. In doing so, it was hoped to find any residual archaeological material and also to maximise the public amenity of the monument in a setting which respected its integrity.
The standing stone site is recorded in the RMP files as being incorporated into the boundary between the development site and the Údarás na Gaeltachta site to the rear. At the commencement of testing, the bank, which acts as a boundary with the Údarás site, was cleaned down with a mattock and trowel. The resulting section clearly showed the cut and fill disturbance associated with the fallen standing stone. The cut was a lop-sided L shape and the fill included grass cuttings, bulbs from flax plants and loose peaty soil, indicative of very recent events. When the bank was investigated on the Údarás side, the extent of the impression left by the stone could be clearly seen as a linear depression on the surface. The result of testing was that the probable original location of the standing stone was discovered straddling the boundary between the field upon which the housing development was built and the Údarás na Gaeltachta industrial estate to the rear.
Upon completion of testing, the displaced standing stone was relocated in the grass verge adjacent to the development site on Church Road. The initial assessment had suggested the grass verge as the most appropriate location for the monument and one where its amenity value could be appreciated in a natural setting. The department agreed with this suggestion and the work was carried out, under supervision, on 14 April 2007. The stone now stands orientated north–south overlooking Blacksod Bay.
Several markings were observed on the stone as it was being hoisted aloft. Two linear depressions in alignment with a straightened edge of the stone are almost certainly toolmarks. Three possible cup marks were also identified on the stone, the most obvious being a hand-sized hollow just above the point at which the stone is planted in the ground.