County: Westmeath Site name: Clonmore
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 06E1169
Author: Fran Wilkinson, Tempus Archaeology, Cregg, Craughwell, Co. Galway.
Site type: Ditch
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 642496m, N 751750m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.514018, -7.359262
Excavation of this site in the townland of Clonmore, near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath. was conducted in advance of construction work associated with the N52 Clonmore link road scheme and follows pre-development testing by Ken Curran (Valerie J. Keeley Ltd) in March 2006 (licence number 06E0180). During that work, a linear ditch, about 1.1m in width and 0.95m in depth, was discovered in one of the five fields which form the route of the new road. The excavation of this ditch was undertaken in January 2007.
Prior to the excavation, an area some 500m2 in size around the ditch was removed by a mechanical digger with a toothless (grading) bucket. This work was monitored and no associated features of potential archaeological significance were identified. Thereafter, the ditch was excavated entirely by hand and several sections were recorded. The uniform fill of the ditch consisted of a sterile clay; hence, the nature and antiquity of the ditch was impossible to date. It is possible that the ditch was cut to aid field drainage or serve as a field boundary; however, the lack of humic/silty material in the fill coupled with the absence of secondary material (of any kind) suggest that the ditch was opened for a short period and then deliberately backfilled.
