County: Galway Site name: Ballyquirke East 1
Sites and Monuments Record No.: n/a Licence number: E4580
Author: Shane Delaney
Site type: Neolithic pits and axehead find spot
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 522420m, N 731732m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.330140, -9.164680
Ballyquirke East 1 was excavated (under Ministerial Directions A067), in advance of construction of the N59 Moycullen Bypass, Co. Galway. The site was discovered during advance testing undertaken in 2014 by IAC Ltd (E4512).
Three archaeological features were identified on site, dispersed across the area. Two of the features were pits and contained Neolithic pottery. A sample of hazel charcoal from C15, a pit containing pottery, produced an early Neolithic date of AD 3692–3527. Stone axes and worked chert and stone fragments were found throughout the area within the topsoil and may represent activity contemporary with the pits on the lake shore. It is likely that these artefacts were dislodged during farming in the area. Plough scars were visible on the bedrock and within the subsoil across the area.
The group of features in Ballyquirke East is especially interesting - albeit simple and very heavily truncated - because, on present evidence, they appear to represent lakeside settlement in Neolithic times. This is a very significant addition to the sparse record of prehistory in Connemara, though it is consistent with reported finds of prehistoric objects from the Lough Corrib basin, which includes Ballyquirke Lough.
The third feature was a charcoal-production kiln and hazel charcoal from the kiln fill returned an early medieval date of AD 777–973.
IAC Ltd, Unit G1, Network Enterprise Park, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow
