2009:590 - BELLAVARY, Mayo

A proposed development of fifteen dwelling-houses on the southern edge of Ballyvary village was tested in advance. The size of the project and a reference from a local book, Keelogues – A Parish Story, Castlebar (1989), which attached the name ^Castle Park’ to the field, were good grounds to test here. This reference also stated that this field contained the castle of Ballyvary as mentioned in Knox’s History of the County of Mayo (1908), but whose whereabouts had remained a mystery. Moreover, local historian Christy Lawless in the late 1980s described possible castle remains from the site, from this same edition. Taking all this into account, the original assessment took note of a grassed-over stony bank at the highest southern end of the site and this area was comprehensively tested. Within the stony bank no facing, mortar or dressed stone turned up and its composition was entirely burnt limestone. This waste stone had been redeposited from a small limekiln which was found near the south-west sector of the site. Throughout this sector there was no evidence of archaeology, with no feature or object dating to more than one hundred years old. Eight test-trenches were excavated throughout various sectors of the remainder of the site with a generally shallow topsoil sitting directly on, or close to, the boulder clay. Nothing archaeological showed up from any of the trenches.
Immediately north of this site are the remains of a cornmill, while two associated millponds created after 1838 led to the construction of a most impressive mill dam wall, 10m wide and up to 4m high. This mill dam wall today forms the south-east boundary to the site. Gate slots on the exterior (southwest) of this wall (and a nearby parallel-running wall) probably functioned in the regulation of water through an old mill-race before the new road to Balla was laid down in 1884. This road ran across the south end of the mill dam wall, though, up until c. 1980, overflow water still took this route. A stream/drain through the central parts of the proposed development site took this overflow water, but there is no evidence that it formed part of a mill-race.
It seems likely that a possible castle may have existed a little further to the south, as this is on higher ground and the 1989 reference stated that this field was traditionally known as ^The Castle Garden’.