County: Wexford Site name: Ballycourcy More 4
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: E004204
Author: Derek Gallagher, for TVAS (Ireland) Ltd, Ahish, Ballinruan, Crusheen, Co. Clare.
Site type: Burnt-stone spread, troughs, pits and stake-holes
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 700199m, N 637687m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.481396, -6.524841
The site was located on the proposed M11 Gorey to Enniscorthy scheme. Ballycourcy More 4 was located in a field in the flood-plain of the Corbally Stream which had been harvested of a crop of oats.
A large rectangular trough measured 3m by 2.08m and was 0.57m deep with steep sides and a flat base. It contained nine deposits of clayey silt with varying degrees of charcoal and heat-affected stones. The northern and southern edges of the trough had the remnants of slot-trenches where it had once been timber-lined, with the north-west corner of the trough having four large stones against the edge in support of the timber lining. Three stake-holes were recorded in the south-west corner of the trough. This trough truncated an earlier oval pit with steep sides and a flat base that measured 0.71m by 0.54m and was 0.23m deep with a fill of loose grey coarse sand with occasional flecks and heat-affected stones.
A rectangular trough with rounded ends was located 4.46m east of the large trough. This feature measured 2.12m by 0.7m and was 0.55m deep with steep sides and a flat base. The trough was truncated across its centre by a post-medieval field drain and contained seven deposits of silty sand with varying amounts of charcoal and heat-affected stones. External to this trough were two stake-holes: one to the north-east was 0.08m in diameter and 0.11m deep while the other at the east measured 0.1m in diameter and 0.14m deep.
The small remnants of a burnt-stone spread measured 4.5m by 3.5m and 0.04m thick and consisted of a black/grey silty clay with frequent charcoal and heat-affected stones. This deposit was also truncated across its middle by a post-medieval field drain.
Two pits were recorded. One was D-shaped with steep to gradual sides and a flat base. It measured 1m by 0.75m by 0.17m and contained a deposit of grey/brown silty clay. The second pit was sub-oval with gradually sloping sides and an irregular base. It measured 1.49m x 0.7m x 0.38m and contained a light-brown/grey silty clay with charcoal flecks and angular stones.
