2009:587 - HAZELHILL, BALLYHAUNIS, Mayo

Pre-development testing was carried out between 7 and 10 December 2009 at a site at Hazelhill, Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo. The proposed development was located off Upper Main Street in Ballyhaunis and consisted of a mixed-use development of twelve blocks comprising hotel, retail, library, leisure centre, residential accommodation and associated works. Testing was required due to the scale of the development. There were no archaeological features visible within the site. The nearest monuments were two destroyed enclosures (MA093–051 and MA093–052) located c. 80m to the west and a short distance east of the site, respectively.
The southern half of the site consisted of two large fields of undulating pastureland which sloped steeply into the centre from high gravel ridges located along their eastern and western sides. At the northern end of the site were 19th/20th-century buildings, some of which were part of a terrace fronting on to Upper Main Street. Some had modern extensions to the rear, as well as tarred or gravelled backyards. Between the undisturbed pastureland to the south and the buildings fronting on to Upper Main Street was an area which had seen a large amount of disturbance in the recent past. The disturbance was evident in the number of spoilheaps and areas which had visibly been reduced in level or filled up.
Testing consisted of the excavation (by machine) of ten trenches. The trenches measured between 7.5m and 176.6m long, 1–3m wide and 0.35–3.85m deep. Nothing of archaeological significance was found. Below the modern fill and topsoil were natural subsoils. The fill contained 20th-century artefacts, while the topsoil contained modern pottery sherds, modern glass fragments, one clay-pipe stem and two clay-pipe bowls. The first bowl was comprised of five fragments and stamped ^O’Gorman 43 West Galway’. The second bowl was intact and stamped ^43’. Both pipes were manufactured by Laurence O’Gorman in Mill Street, Galway, during the late 19th century.