County: Westmeath Site name: CLONMORE/BALLINDERRY/ MULLINGAR/SPRINGFIELD/ROBINSTOWN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: WM019–089 Licence number: 08E0519
Author: James Hession, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd, 27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.
Site type: Monitoring
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 643602m, N 751710m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.513568, -7.342597
The Mullingar sewerage improvement scheme consists of the construction of a main interceptor sewer that extends from Clonmore Wastewater Treatment Plant, located to the south of the town, through the zone of archaeological potential of Mullingar town (WM019–089) and onwards to Robinstown (located to the north of Mullingar). The proposed interceptor sewer through the town centre will be constructed at depths ranging from 4m to 10m; the construction methodology employed was traditional ^cut and cover’ with the sewer tunnelled underneath railway embankments and through the town centre from Pearse Street to the Royal Canal.
The development was divided into two sections to take account of the separate contracts carried out by Westmeath County Council.
Contract 1 (also reported on in Excavations 2008, No. 1255) consisted of works associated with the upgrading of the existing Clonmore Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Lynn Road Pumping Station.
The scope of the archaeological works involved the monitoring of ground disturbance during topsoil removal and pipeline construction works in areas stripped of topsoil. No features, soils, or deposits of archaeological significance were identified.
Contract 2 consisted of the continuation of the main interceptor sewer from the Lynn Road Pumping Station (Contract 1) through the zone of archaeological potential of Mullingar town to Robinstown, located to the north of the town. The route of the pipeline extended for c. 4km and traversed predominately urban and previously disturbed areas. For ease of description, Contract 2 has been divided into the following sections: Section 1 – Lynn Road to Bleach Yard; Section 2 – Bleach Yard to Sunday Well Road; Section 3 – Sunday Well Road to the public park exiting on Pearse Street; Section 4 – Pearse Street to the Royal Canal; Section 5 – the Royal Canal; Section 6 – the Royal Canal to Robinstown (Tyrrell).
Monitoring of topsoil removal was carried out on an intermittent basis (as required) from 1 September 2008 to 20 June 2009. A fulachta fiadh and burnt-mound site were discovered in Section 6 (the Royal Canal to Robertstown) during the monitoring programme and was excavated under licence number 09E216 (see No. 834 below).
