County: Kilkenny Site name: Ballygriffin
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 08E0511
Author: Nial O’Neill, Headland Archaeology Ltd, Unit 1, Wallingstown Business Park, Little Island, Cork.
Site type: Burnt mound, stake-holes and a linear feature
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 656377m, N 614196m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.276559, -7.173854
Testing was undertaken on the site of a proposed light industrial/warehousing business park. The site of the proposed development was 4km south of Kilmacow and 0.2km north of the River Suir in the townland of Ballygriffin, Co. Kilkenny. The site was within 1km of numerous entries in the Record of Monuments and Places including eighteen burnt mounds/fulachta fiadh and Granny Castle, a medieval stone castle, KK046–034(001).
Twelve linear trenches with a combined length of 1071m were excavated across the footprint of the proposed development. Eight of the trenches were located on the grounds of a disused factory. It became evident that the grounds of the factory had been subject to substantial groundworks with some areas 5m below original ground level whilst other areas had 5m of soil built up. Consequently the test-trenching was limited in its scope.
The adjacent field to the west of the factory grounds was also part of the present development and was tested. A burnt mound/fulacht fiadh 6m in length and 0.3m in depth was found on the eastern edge of this field. Approximately 65m north of the burnt mound a linear feature was uncovered that was 0.5m in width and 0.2m in depth; a whetstone was recovered from the fill of this feature. Two stake-holes were uncovered towards the western end of this field; both were conical in shape, 0.15m in diameter and 0.19m in depth. A piece of flint was recovered from one of these stake-holes.
