2006:2039 - CREGGAN LOWER, Westmeath

Testing was undertaken at a proposed development site at Creggan Lower, Athlone.
The site, which is c. 10 acres in extent, is bounded to the west by the route corridor of the proposed M6 road. The surface of the western area of the site is higher than the other areas and is ‘rolling’ in nature. This is the driest area of the site, with remaining lower-lying areas comprising a boggy/marshy surface.
Consultation with Ronan Swan, Project Archaeologist, Westmeath NRDO, determined that two areas of archaeological potential, to the immediate west of the subject lands, were uncovered during testing undertaken in advance of the construction of the M6 road. These were tentatively identified as ‘pits and possible structure’ (Creggan Lower 1) and ‘burnt mound’ (Creggan Lower 2). These areas of archaeological potential were subsequently excavated under the directorship of Ed Lyne, IAC Ltd. Creggan Lower 1 proved to contain a number of miscellaneous features, while Creggan Lower 2 consisted of a spread of charcoal soil with heat-shattered stones. The latter site was located immediately outside the western edge of the subject lands. Excavation of the feature within the road corridor revealed that the burnt spread ran for a length of c. 10m north–south and the outer western edge of a possible trough was revealed upon removal of this burnt-spread material (E. Lyne, pers. comm.). Creggan Lower 2 has been interpreted as a levelled fulacht fiadh, the limited archaeological investigations of which indicate that it runs into the subject development lands.
Prior to the commencement of testing, a metal-detecting survey was undertaken (06R0025). The entire site, except for those areas which are covered with furze, was swept using a 2m grid. This allowed for each ‘line-sweep’ to overlap with the next. The detector was used in ‘all metals’ mode and a number of targets were detected, all of which were indicated as on, or close to, the ground surface. The detected target areas were subsequently investigated and a number of modern items were retrieved, including iron nails, barbed wire, iron hinges, part of a trailer latch, fencing staples, bottle caps, aluminium cans and pull-tabs. The only item of interest was an English one-penny coin (George V, 1920).
A total of eight trenches were subsequently excavated by machine fitted with a toothless ditching bucket. The programme of trail trenching allowed a determination of the extent of the burnt spread, originally identified as Creggan Lower 2, within the subject lands. The testing indicated that this feature extends to the east of the existing road fence for a distance of 14.3m and that it extends for a distance of 11.8m in a north–south orientation.
No additional features or artefacts of archaeological interest were uncovered during the course of the testing and it was proposed that a 10m-wide buffer area around the archaeological remains should be established prior to the commencement of any development. In addition, it was agreed that all topsoil-stripping/ground reductions on to the surface of the underlying subsoil should be monitored.