County: Westmeath Site name: Fearbranagh
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 08E0617
Author: Eoin Sullivan, Gort Archaeology, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.
Site type: No archaeological significance
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 640985m, N 763569m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.620339, -7.380501
A pre-development test excavation was undertaken on 25 July 2008 on a site located c. 1km to the east of the village of Multyfarnham, Co. Westmeath. The site was a brownfield site and the proposed development was a bungalow and associated siteworks. The constraint area of a burial mound (WM007–076) is located to the exterior of the northern boundary of the site. The circular mound is faintly visible on aerial photos and is probably a barrow. Three other burial mounds are within close proximity to the site of the proposed development. Unlicensed monitoring on a separate development located to the north and adjacent to this site did not produce any soils or features of archaeological significance.
The site was assessed on the basis of five mechanically excavated test-trenches, each of which had similar stratigraphy, consisting of topsoil overlying yellow/brown sandy clay that in turn overlay subsoil. No features or materials of archaeological significance were encountered during the excavation of the test-trenches.
