2012:280 - Glenmeen, Galway

Testing and subsequent investigations were carried out between 17 September and 30 October 2012 in Glenmeen Townland, Kilreekill, Co. Galway on behalf of the Galway Camogie Club. The proposed development involved the replacement of existing dressing rooms and a storage unit with a new development consisting of dressing rooms, general purpose/exercise room, assessment/treatment room, toilets, equipment storage facilities and ancillary site services including parking. The proposed development is located within the area of archaeological constraint for GA098-106 and 106001, classified as both a ringfort and a souterrain. The ringfort is featured on both the 1st and 2nd edition OS maps and is indicated as ‘Lisnacroba’ that translates as the ‘fort of the branch’. From discussions with local commentators the site was entirely removed in the last sixty years during field clearance work. Subsequently a single dwelling house was built to its immediate south. Presently there is no above ground evidence for its existence. An examination of a recent aerial images shows an arcing cropmark that appears to represent the fosse of the fort along its south-eastern quadrant.

Testing took place on 17 October and involved the mechanical excavation of 5 trenches with a cumulative length in excess of 130m. Testing exposed the remains of the external fosse/ditch that enclosed the ringfort. The fosse appears as a brown silty clay infill cut into the surrounding natural grey white gravelly clay. The ditch varied in width from 0.9m to 2.2m. A test pit was manually dug in Trench 4, the stratigraphy consisted of a single fill a compact mid brown silty clay with a maximum depth of 0.2m. The cut had gradually sloping sides breaking to a concave base.

Following this testing programme Mr. Hugh Carey, Archaeologist with the National Monuments Service, inspected the site and recommended that all topsoil stripping should be carried out under archaeological supervision and that the circuit of the fosse should be surveyed. Furthermore a sample area of the fosse should be excavated and the rest preserved in situ under a breathable membrane.

This latter phase was carried out between 25 and 29 October. Topsoil stripping in the proposed car park area exposed an arcing ditch representing the north-west quadrant of the outer limits of the fort. The fosse was identified as a compact mid brown, in-filled cut approximately 0.8m to 1m in width extending to the south-east from the most northern edge of the car park. The fosse continued in a regular arc for 24.8m before petering out.

Further to the south-west and south the ditch was more ephemeral with no evidence for its presence in places.

Where the ditch was visible towards the north-west quadrant a 2m long section was hand excavated. This trench exposed a concave cut with gradually sloping sides, slightly sharper in profile to the eastern limit. The cut varied in width from 0.8 to 1.1m and had a maximum depth of 2.7m. The fill material was uniform throughout with no obvious change in stratigraphy. It consisted of a mid brown, silty compact clay with occasional small stones. There were no additional finds or features noted. Under advice from the National Monuments Service the exposed archaeological deposits were covered in geo-textile in advance of the area being gravelled over.

Moore Archaeological & Environmental Services Ltd (MOORE GROUP), 3 Gort Na Rí, Athenry, Co. Galway