2008:619 - Teernaboul, Killarney, Kerry

A pre-development archaeological impact assessment was undertaken at a proposed development site at Teernaboul on the extreme north-eastern outskirts of the urban expansion of Killarney, Co. Kerry. The development comprises 37 houses. KE067–013, classified in the RMP as an enclosure, is located in the south-western corner of the site. While barely discernible aboveground, the monument was identified and surveyed in advance of testing in order to establish its relict manifest limits.
A track machine using a 2m flat grading bucket incrementally excavated nineteen trenches across the site. The topsoil was mid-brown clayey silt with frequent small to medium pebbles and averaged 0.3m in depth. The subsoil was mid-orange silty clay with occasional patches of gravel.
Agricultural activity was recorded within the trenches in the form of modern drainage ditches. A levelled field boundary ditch aligned north-east/south-west was recorded in Trenches 1 and 2.
Two areas of archaeology were revealed within Trench 13 and hereunder recorded as Areas 1 and 2, and were situated 9m apart on a north–south axis. The trenches around the features were extended to determine the extent of the archaeology. The nearest features are situated in the expanded Trench 13 c. 70m north of the enclosure.
Area 1 measured 9m north-east/south-west by 8.5m and contained a single shallow pit which measured 1.9m (north-east/south-west) by 8.5m by 0.22m depth and was filled with a moderately compact clayey silt with frequent heat-shattered stones and occasional unburnt small to medium sub-rounded and sub-angular stones. Moderate pieces and flecks of charcoal were also recorded within the fill. The pit had a concave profile.
Area 2 measured 10.5m (north-east/south-west) by 14m. Area 2 was located to the south of Area 1 and consisted of a cluster of eight potential archaeological features. Feature 2 comprised a small pit measuring 0.15m in depth filled with moderately compacted dark blackish-brown silty clay with some pebbles, small to medium sub-rounded stones and charcoal pieces and flecks. Some burnt bone was also recorded within the fill. Feature 5, a pit or post-hole, was filled with dark blackish-brown silty clay of loose compaction. Moderate amounts of charcoal, pebbles and small to medium sub-rounded stones were recorded within the fill which was 0.25m in depth. Occasional heat-shattered stones were also within the fill. Feature 7, a pit or post-hole, was filled with the same material as Feature 5 and measured 0.15m in depth. Features 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9 were untested possible pits or post-holes. Feature 10 was not investigated but was manifest as an area of scorched earth/subsoil, indicative of a hearth.
These two small areas of archaeology have a distinct prehistoric aspect to them. However, as no diagnostic artefacts were recovered it is not possible to determine their exact nature or function without further excavation.