2007:1152 - Bully’s Acre, Ballinalee, Longford

A test excavation was conducted at Bully’s Acre, Ballinalee, Co. Longford, in February 2007 over a period of two days. This excavation was carried out as part of an archaeological assessment in advance of a planning application for the construction of a local amenity centre in Ballinalee and was carried out on behalf of the Ballinalee Amenity Centre Committee.
The site is within the village of Ballinalee, a Plantation town. Bully’s Acre is marked on the 6-inch OS map of 1837 as a graveyard with an enclosure site situated to the south and an open field to the north. The area to the north and east of the graveyard mound was tested.
A series of test-trenches were positioned across the site and excavated by machine. There were five trenches excavated running north–south and parallel to each other, c. 35–45m in length and 1.8m wide. Four trenches of varying lengths (T1A 38m, T1B 13m, T7 14m, T8 39m) were positioned running east–west and perpendicular to the latter five trenches. An additional single 20m by 1.8m trench was positioned in the small area to the east of the site running east–west.
There were no significant archaeological remains uncovered during the investigation works. The site, historically thought to contain burials from the Battle of Ballinamuck, did not produce any burials in the area.
Eight features were uncovered which may date to the post-medieval period. The nature of the features remains ambiguous as they all extend outside the limit of the test-trenches. The possible pits were poorly defined and therefore their function remains unknown. The possible foundation trench of a structure and the foundations of a wall may also be associated with post-medieval settlement. Finds included clay pipes and post-medieval pottery and small quantities of animal bone.