County: Mayo Site name: Knockfereen, Ballinrobe
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 10E0089
Author: Dominic Delany, Dominic Delany & Associates, Unit 3, Howley Court, Oranmore, Co. Galway.
Site type: 11926 26371
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 519137m, N 763444m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.614577, -9.222104
Test excavations were carried out on the site of a proposed housing development at Knockfereen, Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, on 23 and 24 March 2010. MA118–027 (enclosure) is located in the mid-western section of the proposed development site. The former workhouse is located on the southern boundary and a former fever hospital is located on the eastern boundary. Both are protected structures. Ten test-trenches were excavated on the footprint of the proposal. A number of modern land-improvement features were found in the northern and central fields. These field shores or stone-filled drains were primarily oriented north–south with slight variations oriented north-west/south-east. A layer of gleyed silt found in the stratigraphy of northern parts of Field 1 showed the propensity of this area to flooding. A former field boundary was uncovered in the centre of the central field. This boundary can be seen on the first-edition OS map for the area. The only other feature of note was a refuse pit used by the Valkenburg Hotel in Ballinrobe town, which contained burnt material including ceramic bottles dating to the 19th century.
