County: Kerry Site name: Manor East
Sites and Monuments Record No.: KE029–258 Licence number: E004154
Author: James Hession, Headland Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd, Unit 1, Wallingstown Business Park, Little Island, Co. Cork.
Site type: Ring-barrow
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 485854m, N 613022m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.257059, -9.671985
Testing was undertaken on behalf of Kerry County Council during the week of 23 August 2010. The works were undertaken as part of Stage (i) of the archaeological services contract prior to the commencement of construction of the N22 Tralee bypass/Tralee–Bealagrellagh, Co. Kerry, which extends from Lissatanvally to Flemby in County Kerry. The layout of the trenches in this area was designed to test the zone of archaeological potential of KE029–258, a ring-barrow which is located immediately south of the road-take. The results of geophysical survey, which was carried out in advance of test-trenching at the site (Harrison 2010), were also used to dictate the location of the trenches.
Geophysical survey in the area did not highlight any potential archaeological features within the zone of archaeological potential (Harrison 2010, 12). Test-trenching confirmed that there are no subsurface archaeological remains in the portion of the zone of archaeological potential of KE029–258, which is being impacted on by the road-take. The presence of up to 2m of alluvial deposits in the area indicates it has been prone to extreme flooding for a long period of time. The fact that the flooding is continuing to the present day makes the survival of a Bronze Age monument on the upper surface of the flood-plain less likely. The interpretation of the topographical feature as a ring-barrow can therefore not be confirmed by the investigations carried out as part of the current project.
Reference
Harrison, S. 2010 The results of geophysical survey along the route of the N22 Tralee bypass/Tralee to Bealagrellagh road scheme. Report by Headland Archaeology Ltd for Kerry County Council.
