County: Kerry Site name: Trienearagh
Sites and Monuments Record No.: KE011-033 Licence number: 16E0555
Author: Laurence Dunne
Site type: Ringfort
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 502690m, N 632426m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.434644, -9.431095
Test excavations were carried out in November 2016 with regard to planning application to construct a solar farm at Trienearagh, Listowel, Co. Kerry. A ringfort, KE011-033, is located within the site. However, the monument is almost destroyed above ground.
Fifty-seven 1m-wide test trenches (T1 to T57) extending for a total distance of 1160m were opened. Topsoil was on average between 0.25m and 0.4m in depth. It generally comprised mid-greyish brown silty sandy clay and sometimes varied to darker hues. Eight test trenches, T1-T8, were radially opened around the denuded ringfort. Two symmetrically disposed c.3m wide possible ditch features were recorded in consecutive test trenches T3 & T4. A small investigative test box was excavated in the feature in T3 to a depth of 0.5m. The fill of the test-box comprised dark grey silty clay crumbly material with occasional cobbles.
A second possible ditch-like feature, 3m in width was exposed at a depth of 0.3m c.6m from the north-east terminus of T4. The revealed uppermost fill of the feature comprised dark brown material with moderate stone inclusions. A small charcoal/stony feature c. 0.35m x 0.25m was exposed in Trench 5 close to its northern end. No other possible ditch features were discovered in the other six radiating trenches which were all 40m in length. Furthermore, no extra-mural sub-surface activity associated with the ringfort was found in any of the eight radial test trenches.
Forty-nine linear trenches, T9-T57, were excavated along the footprint of the proposed solar farm. Apart from frequent narrow drain features criss-crossing the site, nothing of an archaeological nature was noted or recorded in the test trenches T9-T57.
3 Lios na Lohart, Ballyvelly, Tralee
