County: Galway Site name: Ballybaun
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 08E0858
Author: Grace Fegan, for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd, Brehon House, Kilkenny Road, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny.
Site type: No archaeological significance
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 548308m, N 713617m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.170525, -8.773126
Test-trenching was carried out for Roughan O’Donovan Consulting Engineers on behalf of Iarnród Éireann in advance of the proposed railway line level-crossing upgrade at Ballybaun townland, Co. Galway, in October 2008. The area had been identified as an area of archaeological potential following an archaeological impact assessment (AIA). The AIA recommended advance test-trenching at this location to evaluate the archaeological potential and nature of a hillock in an undulating landscape currently used as pasture.
A total area of 625.4m2 was excavated within four test-trenches. The trenches were positioned to establish the archaeological potential of the hillock/drumlin and to follow the footprint of the proposed access road to establish the archaeological impact of the works. The topsoil was removed from the area using a 12 tonne mechanical 360° excavator with a toothless bucket. All the trenches were excavated to the natural subsoil layer and any potential archaeological features were investigated by hand. The programme of testing at Ballybaun revealed no potential archaeological features or materials.
