County: Galway Site name: Drumharsna South
Sites and Monuments Record No.: GA113–121 Licence number: E003872
Author: Linda Hegarty, Eachtra Archaeological Projects, The Forge, Innishannon, Co. Cork.
Site type: Stone enclosure, levelled
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 543145m, N 711414m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.150198, -8.849961
Phase 2 excavations along the 27.2km of the N18 Oranmore to Gort (Glenbrack to Rathmorrissey) National Road Scheme were commissioned by Galway County Council and the National Roads Authority.
In total 952m2 were topsoil-stripped. This investigation yielded likely evidence for a collapsed and/or levelled and robbed-out stone structure of up to 40m in diameter. Three field boundaries intersected at the site.
A very large deep pit was located towards the north-west of the site. The pit was circular in plan, measuring 1.8m in diameter and 1.1m in depth. Small and medium stones were evident towards the west of the site. These stones were the remnants of the cashel wall preserved in situ below two field boundaries. Below these stones was a buried soil. Both of these deposits were overlying a positive rise in the natural. This was doughnut-shaped in plan, measuring 35m in external diameter. The average width of this positive cut was from 5.5m to 7.2m. The height of this rise above the surrounding natural soil varies from 0.3m (external) and 0.2m (internal) on the north side to 0.2m (external) and 0.1m (internal) on the south side. A shallow break was evident in this rise towards the south-south-east. This may represent an entrance. Low-lying footings of a wall were evident, orientated north-west to south-east, perpendicular to the positive cut at the southern extent.
