County: Mayo Site name: Rossbeg, Westport
Sites and Monuments Record No.: none Licence number: 15E0387
Author: Angela Wallace, Atlantic Archaeology
Site type: none
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 497570m, N 783885m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.794429, -9.554699
Archaeological assessment was requested as a planning condition for Planning Ref Nos 09/1279 and 09/1281 at Rossbeg, Westport, Co. Mayo. Development consists of two adjacent single-storey residential dwellings and domestic garages with associated landscaping. The sites are located on the south-western outskirts of the town of Westport, Co. Mayo. The area of development is located c.2km south-west of Westport town and c. 0.5km south of Westport Quay. The sites are accessed along the coastal route from Westport Quay and then from a right turn off for Ardmore, and access is through a lane adjacent to an existing house along this road. An access road has to be put in place in the field to the south-east of the two sites; this access route was stripped along with access into the two sites.
There are no recorded archaeological sites within the footprint of the development or within the immediate vicinity. There are a total of six recorded archaeological sites in the townland of Rossbeg. The closest, MA087:021 Ringfort-Rath, is located c.120m south-west of the proposed development; this site also has an associated souterrain MA087:021001, and MA087:021002 a hut site.
The field to the south-east slopes slightly upwards from east to west, the area for the two house sites is on steeply sloping ground also sloping from east upwards to the west; the sites are on elevated ground with good views to the north and west towards Clew Bay.
No evidence for any above-ground archaeological features was evident during site inspection.
Topsoil stripping of access routes and footprint of both dwellings and garage was carried out under archaeological supervision. No evidence for any archaeological artefacts, features or deposits was found.
Pier Road, Enniscrone, Co. Sligo
