County: Tipperary Site name: Ballyhisky
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: E002481
Author: Markus Casey and Margaret McNamara, TVAS (Ireland) Ltd, Ahish, Ballinruan, Crusheen, Co. Clare.
Site type: Four pits, two spreads
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 580279m, N 675593m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.830934, -8.292641
This site was excavated in advance of the N7 Nenagh to Limerick road project at Chainage 24200 to 24500. Excavations were carried out between 12 September and 24 October 2006. The N7 traverses a gently undulating landscape of lowland pasture broken only by a large area of peat basin straddling the border between counties Limerick and Tipperary. The region is overlooked by the Silvermines Mountains to the east and the Arra Mountains to the north and west. Specifically, E2481 was located on pastureland beneath the Arra Mountains. The site consisted of four separate areas (A–D) located over a 315m-long stretch of the road-take. The total area excavated was 525m2.
Area A
The only feature of archaeological merit here was a circular pit (1.2m in diameter and 0.3m deep) filled with dark-grey charcoal-rich clayey silt with stone inclusions. The pit had steep sides with a flat base. This feature was cut through the centre by a modern stone-filled drain.
Area B
A pit and deposit were recorded. The pit was subcircular in shape with a rough V-shaped profile (0.5m by 0.5m and 0.19m deep). The pit fill was dark-brown fine sand with stone and charcoal inclusions. Approximately 4.5m to the south was a sub-oval deposit of compact light-grey clayey silt with stone and charcoal inclusions (1m by 0.8m and 0.06m thick).
Area C
This site also contained a pit and a deposit. The pit was sub-oval in shape with a very gradual profile (0.69m by 0.56m and 0.09m deep). This feature was filled with dark-brown clayey silt with stone and charcoal inclusions. Immediately north-west of the pit was a sub-oval charcoal-rich burnt deposit (0.52m by 0.35m and 0.08m thick).
Area D
The only feature of archaeological merit was a large sub-oval pit (4m by 1.91m and 0.53m deep). The profile of the pit varied, with some gradual and some steep edges and a rounded base. This feature was filled with six deposits. The primary fill was dark black/red burnt charcoal-rich clayey silt with stone and gravel inclusions. This basal fill was overlain with: red/orange burnt clayey sandy silt with charcoal and gravel inclusions; red/grey charcoal-rich sandy silt; grey/brown clayey sandy silt with stone (some heat-affected), gravel and charcoal inclusions; black charcoal-rich sandy clayey silt with stone inclusions; and a final upper fill of brown loamy sandy clayey silt with stone and charcoal inclusions.
No finds were retrieved from any of these areas.
Editor’s note: Although excavated during 2006, the report on this site arrived too late for inclusion in the bulletin of that year.
