2007:1544 - SHANNON EIGHTER, Sligo

Monitoring of groundworks was carried out on 6 December 2007 at the site of a proposed development in Shannon Eighter townland, Co. Sligo. Two phases of testing had already been carried out at the proposed development site in August 2006 (Excavations 2006, No. 1785) and February 2007 (see No. 1543, Excavations 2007). The original testing was necessary because the development site was partially located within the archaeological constraint for a cemetery and ash dump (SL014–016(01, 02)). The first phase of testing uncovered three features of potential archaeological significance. The second phase provided conclusive evidence of the eastern half of a rectangular ditched enclosure, possibly a moated site, located in the south-west corner of the site. Following submission of the report the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government recommended that the feature be preserved in situ and that a 15m buffer zone be established around it, inside which no development take place.

With the proposed development in the pre-planning phase the applicant was asked by the local authority to include a cycle lane and footpath as part of the planning application, to be located outside the proposed development site along the Sligo–Bundoran road (N15), which ran along the western site boundary. The development of the cycle lane and footpath meant the removal of a portion, in the order of 2–3m wide, of an embankment along the road, which bordered the exclusion zone established around the monument. Following discussions with the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, it was agreed that the only way to assess the embankment and its possible archaeological significance was to strip it using a machine with a toothless/grading bucket.

The relevant section of the embankment measured 85m long, 5.5–6.5m wide and 2.87m in maximum height. Below the topsoil were natural subsoils, the result of the grading of the embankment during construction of the adjacent road. A ditch (1.7–2m wide and 0.6m deep) filled with small angular rocks and redeposited topsoil was uncovered near the northern end of the area stripped. A tiny fragment of animal bone and an oyster-shell fragment were recovered from the fill. Below the upper fill was redeposited natural subsoil. This feature had the appearance of a field drain; however, its location meant it would be preserved in situ within the proposed development. Nothing else of archaeological significance was in evidence.