County: Mayo Site name: TAWNAGHMORE, KILLALA
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 11E0072 and ext.
Author: Declan Moore
Site type: Testing, shell deposit
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 496004m, N 839493m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.293611, -9.597500
The proposed development entails a biomass-fuelled (wood and herbaceous) nominal 50MWe Combined Heat and Power (CHP) facility on a portion of the Killala Business Park (formerly the Asahi Business Park) and adjacent land, in the townlands of Tawnaghmoe Upper and Lower, approximately 3.2km south of Killala. This brownfield site is approximately 21.7ha in extent.
Initial testing of the site was carried out on 23 and 24 March 2011. Groundworks involved the mechanical excavation of eight trenches measuring between 80m and 130m in length by 1.5m in width. All trenches were aligned roughly east–west. Nothing of archaeological significance was noted during the course of testing.
Given the extent of the works and the site’s prominence in the local landscape, it was recommended that monitoring be carried out during topsoil-stripping for the proposed development. Monitoring of site investigation works, which involved excavation of trial pits and test trenches at the southern part of the site, was therefore carried out.
Groundworks for site investigation involved the mechanical excavation of trial trenches measuring 0.5m in width, 1–2m in length and between approx. 0.5m and 2m in depth. Engineering site investigation works exposed deposits of clays and sandy silts overlying bedrock. A deposit of shells was encountered in TPL 11. No artefactual evidence was encountered to provide a more secure indication of its nature. It was therefore recommended that the area be further investigated.
Subsequently, the area around the shell deposit was topsoil-stripped to the depth of the deposit. This phase of testing confirmed that the shell deposit was a discrete site measuring approximately 3m north–south by 5m, consisting of two shell spreads and an intervening clay layer. No diagnostic material was recovered.
The material was removed by hand at the beginning of December 2011. Excavation indicated that the midden was a temporary site. No post-holes or other features were noted. The inland location and depth of the feature may, however, indicate that it is of antiquity.
Moore Archaeological & Environmental Services Ltd (MOORE GROUP), Corporate House, Ballybrit Business Park, Ballybrit, Galway
