County: Waterford Site name: Ballygunnercastle
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 09E307 ext.
Author: Nial O’Neill, Headland Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd, Unit 25, Liosbaun Industrial Estate, Tuam Road, Galway.
Site type: Human remains
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 664109m, N 609223m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.231018, -7.061505
Monitoring was undertaken at St Mary’s Church, Ballygunnercastle, Co. Waterford, between 12 April and 31 May 2010. The development was closely associated with St Mary’s Church and its adjacent graveyard, both of which are clearly depicted on the first-edition OS map and are situated in proximity to WD018–012, WD018–003 and WS018–01, all within a 1.2km radius.
A total area of approximately 1000m² was exposed including a portion of the interior of the church. The resulting surface was cleaned by hand. No archaeological features or deposits were revealed during the monitoring of the development works. Human remains were uncovered in a shallow unmarked grave in a bank of made ground to the east of the church. These were considered to be of recent date and were reported to the local garda, who assumed responsibility for the remains. Monitoring to the south of the church, within close proximity to the graveyard, exposed grave-cuts and partially exposed one skeleton, all of which were preserved in situ.
