County: Fermanagh Site name: CASHEL CROSSROADS, SCRIBBAGH
Sites and Monuments Record No.: FER209–001 Licence number: AE/09/206
Author: Eoin Halpin and David Kilner, Archaeological Development Services Ltd, Unit 6, 21 Old Channel Road, Belfast, BT3 9DE.
Site type: Adjacent to rath
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 598015m, N 847475m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.375914, -8.030537
Situated at Cashel Crossroads, which lies c. 5km to the south-east of the village of Garrison in Co. Fermanagh, the proposed development involves the phased development of four detached dwellings and associated access, services and landscaping.
There are twelve archaeological sites within a 2km radius with one site actually located within the boundaries of the proposed development. This site is a rath located at the base of a steep south-west-facing hill slope within the centre of the proposed development. It was marked as a ^Fort’ on the first (1834) and second (1859) OS map sheets but was not shown on the subsequent 1908 edition sheet. The rath is located to the north-east of the proposed dwellings. Te interior of this site is evident and is enclosed by the remains of the two banks and inner ditch. It is truncated to the south-east by the field boundary. The rath was used as a mass site in penal times with the interior planted with bluebells to define the area for religious services. A mass rock was also associated with the site, though this has been removed and was reused in a modern field drain. The rath’s visible extent suggests an enclosure some 40m in diameter. A buffer zone, agreed with Northern Ireland Environment Agency, was set out prior to development commencing, with all ground disturbance confined to the areas outside this zone.
The majority of the proposed development will be located within the south-west of the field, with four dwellings erected within this area and a water-treatment plant in the north-east corner. The proposed development is bounded to the north by the adjacent chapel with the graveyard sited to the rear.
Phase 1 of the development comprised the construction of a detached house in the northwesternmost plot on the site. The plot measured some 25m2, with an additional 5m-wide strip running along its northern boundary to allow an access road into the water-treatment works. Monitoring of the removal of topsoil across this area was undertaken on 21 December 2009. Nothing of archaeological interest was noted.
The access way and pipeline to the proposed water-treatment plant was also tested via a 1.5m-wide test-trench along the full length of the route. Nothing of archaeological interest was uncovered here either.
