County: Clare Site name: Doolin Pier, Ballaghaline
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 10D21; 10R50
Author: Eoghan Kieran, Moore Marine Services, Corporate House, Ballybrit Business Park, Galway.
Site type: Maritime
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 507873m, N 697187m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.017444, -9.373048
A maritime cultural heritage impact assessment of a proposed harbour development at Doolin Pier, Ballaghaline, Co. Clare, was carried out in June 2010. Since the completion of the original assessment, the development plan has changed slightly and so a revised assessment was required to address the potential impact that the development will have on the cultural heritage of the area. It comprised the results of a combination of a site walkover and a desktop assessment of all available documentary sources relating to the site.
The site walkover took place on 16 May and the marine assessment took place on 14 June 2010. The timing of the survey coincided with a spring tide and therefore the maximum foreshore was visible at low water. Visibility at the time of the survey was excellent and the maximum recorded water depth was 5.5m.
The record of monuments and places (RMP) for County Clare indicates that there are no monuments on the site; however, www.archaeology.ie indicates that CL008a–006 is located on the proposed development site. The RMP indicates that there are a large number of monuments within 1–2km of the proposed development, mainly to the north-east. CL008a–006 is not listed in this area. This appears to have arisen as a result of excavation of a number of features in this area by Ann Lynch of the National Monuments Service in 1996, whereby the area was re-identified as an RMP subsequent to the publication of the RMP for County Clare. The desktop assessment for this proposed development concluded that CL008a–006 was located on the subject site. While there is no visible evidence for CL008a–006 on the site, there is the possibility that subterranean remains may still be contained within the localised clay-covered crevices.
The underwater survey recorded that there were no visible or detectable archaeological materials on the submarine component of the project. Based on the results of the desktop assessment and the site survey, it would appear that there is the possibility that this development may negatively impact upon archaeological deposits which may be present. Consequently it was recommended that the area surrounding CL008a–006 should be tested.
