2012:325 - Collinstown, Kildare

Pre-development testing was carried out on 20 and 21 August 2012 at a site at Collinstown townland, Leixlip, County Kildare. The proposed development consisted of the relocation of existing temporary contractor parking (c. 1200 cars) to the adjacent lands south of Intel, at Collinstown Business Park.
Testing was required due to the scale of the development and due to the discovery of a number of archaeological features in the vicinity during monitoring of the Cellbridge Interchange Scheme in 2001. An archaeological assessment was compiled by Tobar Archaeological Services in August 2011 to accompany the planning application. It documented four previously excavated monuments in the vicinity: a fulacht fiadh (KD011-053) (excavated by Gary Conboy, Excavations 2001, No. 640, 01E0771), a habitation site (KD011-054), miscellaneous features (KD011-055) and a kiln (KD011-056) (excavated by Fiona Reilly for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd, Excavations 2001, Nos 625 [01E0893] and 626 [01E1225]). A Geophysical Survey was carried out by GeoArc Ltd. in July 2012. This identified a number of anomalies which required further investigation. The testing was informed by the results of the geophysical survey.
The proposed development site was located approximately 1.8km west of Leixlip on the southern side of the R148 (Leixlip-Maynooth) road. The site was bounded to the south by the Royal Canal, the Dublin-Sligo railway line and the Collinstown Business Park, to the east by the R449 and to the west by a local road. The areas to be developed consisted of a large relatively flat field of pasture with a major sewer line running inside the southern boundary and a number of dilapidated modern stables along the eastern field boundary, a smaller field of pasture with material having previously been dumped in its south-east corner, two car parks, a small overgrown field and a larger overgrown field centrally located within which was a flat-roofed dilapidated modern building. No archaeological features were visible within the proposed development site.
The testing consisted of the excavation of eight trenches located to investigate the anomalies. The trenches measured 26.8m, 12.3m, 31.25m, 15.3m, 14m, 12.2m 29.6m and 23.7m long respectively, 1.8-2.1m wide and 0.3-1.1m deep.
The testing revealed natural undisturbed stratigraphy in two of the trenches. Three of the anomalies from the geophysical survey were explained by modern disturbance. The frequency of naturally decayed rock appeared to explain another. Two modern features, a land drain and a culvert, perhaps associated with the nearby Collinstown House, were the source of two more anomalies while the natural contours of the land appeared to explain another. None of the modern artefacts recovered from the testing were retained and nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered
Subsequent monitoring of the topsoil stripping of one area, which was not accessible for testing due to its proximity to overhead power lines, revealed nothing of archaeological significance.

4 Lecka Grove, Castlebar Road, Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo