2007:1231 - Clooncarrabaun, Mayo

Pre-development testing was carried out on 14 and 15 December 2007 at a site in Clooncarrabaun, Louisburgh, Co. Mayo. A geophysical survey of the site had uncovered a number of anomalies of possible archaeological origin. The site was located in a pasture field along Chapel Street on the outskirts of Louisburgh. It was bounded to the south by the Bunowna River, to the north by a public road and to the west by a recently completed apartment block. There was no surface trace of the anomalies.
The testing consisted of the excavation (by machine) of ten trenches of between 6.2m and 24.3m in length, 0.9–1.3m wide and 0.4–1.75m deep. Below the topsoil was modern fill, orange/grey/brown plastic silty clay loam, orange/grey/cream plastic silty clay and orange/grey friable sandy clay loam. The topsoil contained several modern pottery sherds. The silty clay contained naturally decayed rocks/
boulders. A 0.3m-diameter concrete pipe was uncovered in one of the trenches, while modern field drains were visible in two other trenches.
A thin (20–100mm thick) layer of burnt soil and (apparently) heat-shattered small rocks with occasional flecks of charcoal was visible in a section face of one of the trenches. This possible burnt spread appeared to coincide with one of the anomalies. The remaining anomalies were explained by the fill, the field drains, concrete pipe and naturally decayed rocks.