2017:301 - EYRECOURT DEMESNE: Vicinity of Donanaghta Church, Galway

Monitoring of a proposed dwelling house site at Eyrecourt Demesne took place in dry and bright conditions on 15 and 16 December 2017. These works followed a programme of testing carried out in September of the year. The original investigation involved excavating 10 test trenches in the proposed areas of greatest disturbance including the footprint of the house foundations, the driveway, the percolation area and the site of the septic tank. During this phase no finds or features of archaeological potential were noted.

Monitoring works were carried out over two days, using a 12-tonne excavator with a 1.5m wide ditching bucket. The soil profile was of a grey-brown, silty clay topsoil (0.2m) over a compact, orange-brown natural clay dug to an average depth of 0.29–0.3m. No finds were recovered nor were any features identified.