County: Limerick Site name: Rivers
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LI006-063 Licence number: 17E0450
Author: Red Tobin, RedArc Consulting Ltd
Site type: Enclosure
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 563747m, N 657539m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.667811, -8.535978
In advance of planning and development an archaeological assessment of this site in Rivers Townland, Annacotty, Co. Limerick was carried out. The site contains 4 RMP sites: LI006-063 (Enclosure), LI006-094001 (Burnt Mound Activity), LI006-094002 (Corn Drying Kiln) and LI006-094003 (Excavation – miscellaneou)s. This assessment included a documentary review, preliminary site visit and test trench excavations to determine the archaeological potential of the site, if any. A geophysical survey of the site was carried out in late July 2017 as part of this assessment (Licence ref: 17R0144). The site was initially inspected on 10 June 2017 and test trenching was carried out over the site on 9 October 2017. To assess the site, nine test trenches were proposed. A further six trenches were excavated on 19 December 2017 under an extension to Licence Ref: 17E0450.
The Enclosure site (LI006-063) was identified, in the north-west corner of the field, from an OSI aerial photograph (1985) and initially listed as ‘Potential site – Air Photo’. A test excavation was carried out on the site in 2005 (Licence Ref: 05E1251). This excavation identified the other listed RMP sites all of which were located in the north-west corner of the field. It was felt that these could not be definitively related to the Enclosure site. At this time, it was felt that the construction of the roundabout on the R445 had obliterated the Enclosure.
The geophysical survey did not identify the Enclosure site or any of the other RMP sites identified in 2005.
Test trenching in October 2017 identified archaeological material in the north-west corner of the field. The density of this material in addition to the features recorded in 2005 makes a solid argument for the continued existence of the Enclosure, but it did not identify the Enclosure ditch.
Using a copy of the original OSI photograph and overlaying it on current OSI mapping, it was possible to demonstrate that the Enclosure was not destroyed but remained extant in the north-west corner of the field. To confirm this the outline of the Enclosure was marked on the landscape and six further trenches targeted on the line of the Enclosure ditch. These trenches confirmed the location of the Enclosure ditch in 5 out of the 6 trenches. It is likely that the Enclosure suffered some damage during the roadworks to the north and west of the field.
35 Brook Meadow, Avoca, Co. Wicklow
