2008:1058 - Carrowmore, Sligo

The site is located within the archaeological constraints of SL014–209, a national monument in state ownership. The site is bordered on three sides by green fields and on the fourth by a local road. The proposed development involves the construction of a four-bay slatted shed, slurry tank and associated works. A visual impact assessment was conducted in January 2007 by The Archaeology Company. To mitigate against any visual impact they recommended the lowering of the finished floor level of the proposed shed by 1.5m, planting indigenous, shallow-rooting trees which would create a screening which would further mitigate against any visual impact upon the Carrowmore archaeological landscape. Following this report, the client received a schedule of conditions which specified the requirement for archaeological assessment in conjunction with test excavation.
Test excavation took place on 21 June 2008. Twenty-two test-trenches were excavated at the locations of greater ground impacts. In general the stratigraphy consisted of a thin layer of grass and topsoil, 0.30m average depth, lying directly onto the gravel and subsoil which was uniform throughout the area. This material contained some modern artefacts, the earliest identifiable find being early 20th-century white porcelain. There was a possibility the site may have been disturbed in places by the removal of gravel in the past, as evidence of this was apparent in the surrounding fields, although no direct evidence of this was encountered at this site.