2012:409 - Sroolane North, Limerick

Eleven test trenches (aggregate length 252m) were excavated within lands acquired for the N69 Robertstown Junction Improvements Scheme on the southern side of the N69 road at its junction with the L1222 local road. The scheme was located c. 2km south-east of Foynes, c. 2.5km north-east of Shanagolden and c. 2km south of Aughinish Island and the Shannon Estuary. The work was carried out on behalf of Limerick County Council between 4 and 5 April 2012. Prior to test excavation there were no known or suspected archaeological remains located within or immediately adjacent to the scheme.
The land acquired for road construction comprised a small portion of a field to the west of the L1222 road (Field 1), and a small triangular field (Field 2) to the east. Field 1 occupied a low, roughly north–south aligned ridge (11.75m OD) and was in pasture at the time of the excavations. Field 2 was situated on relatively low-lying ground (5.5m OD) adjacent to a stream which formed its eastern boundary. There was a slight slope from north to south and the field was heavily overgrown with briars, scrub and high grass.
A single pit, containing charcoal and cremated bone, was uncovered in Trench 1, Field 1. A roughly rectangular area (c. 10m north-east/south-west by 9m) centred on the pit and extending the full width of the scheme footprint was stripped of topsoil. No archaeological features/deposits were present in the rest of the test trench or in the other two test trenches in the field. The pit was an isolated feature within the scheme footprint and could not be preserved in situ. It was therefore fully excavated during testing. Analysis of the cremated bone (total weight 5.9g) confirmed that it was human and identified it as the partial remains of a young juvenile individual (L. Lynch pers. comm.) The bone was radiocarbon dated to 2283–2038 cal. BC (3751±32 BP; UBA-21174), placing the burial in the Early Bronze Age. The charcoal assemblage was atypical of Bronze Age cremation burials, in that hazel rather than oak was the dominant wood type present (E. O Carroll pers. comm.) No archaeological remains were uncovered in Field 2.
The test trenches, combined with the area stripped to investigate the cremation pit in Field 1, comprised 453m2 and represented a 12.5% sample of the lands acquired for the scheme. Given the absence of any further identified remains of archaeological significance and the distance of the scheme from any known archaeological sites, it was recommended that the development required no further archaeological mitigation. This recommendation was accepted by the National Monuments Service. While no features or deposits associated with the burial in Field 1 were found within the lands subject to test excavation, it is possible that it may be associated with remains that have no surface expression outside the limit of the land acquired for road building

National Roads Authority, Mid West National Roads Design Office, Lissanalta House, Dooradoyle, Limerick.