County: Tipperary Site name: Shevry, Knockcurraghbola Commons, Knockcurraghbola Crownlands, Graniera, Knockduff and Inchivara, Milestone
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 16E0434
Author: Miriam Carroll
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 594079m, N 659043m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.682509, -8.087567
The excavation of 43 test trenches on the permitted wind farm sites and substation at Milestone and Inchivara, Co. Tipperary did not reveal any archaeological finds, features or deposits. Natural subsoil was exposed at the base of all the test trenches and consisted mainly of an orange gravelly material. A variation to this was in Trenches 12 and 13 in Milestone where the base of the trench consisted of a grey clay material where water ingress was evident. Trench 11 at Inchivara was similar in that the base of the trench was reached at 1.35m approximately with the overlying material having been introduced to reclaim the land in the recent past. No archaeological finds, features or deposits were uncovered in any of the test trenches excavated.
Historic field boundary ditches were noted within some of the trenches excavated which corresponded with boundaries marked on both 1st and 2nd Edition OS maps (1842-1900s).
The natural subsoil appeared to be truncated in many areas as a result of previous land reclamation works, thus reducing the sub-surface archaeological potential of the site. The excavated test trenches were positioned in areas where most ground disturbance will take place during the construction stage of the development, however, they only represent a sample of the ground that it is proposed to excavate as part of the wind farm development as a whole.
Monitoring of the construction stage of the windfarm was undertaken in 2017 under the same licence number. Testing and monitoring of the associated grid connection cable route was also undertaken under licence 16E0606.
Tobar Archaeological Services, Saleen, Midleton, Co. Cork
