2019:302 - 6 Kerrs Bay, Rathmullan, Donegal

Monitoring of groundworks at a development at 6 Kerrs Bay, Rathmullan, close to the western shore of Lough Swilly, in County Donegal, was carried out on 14 March 2019. The project consisted of the demolition of a single-storey extension and the construction of a two-storey replacement extension to the rear of an existing dwelling house.
The monitoring was a condition of the planning permission and was necessary as the development site was located within the constraint area for the 17th-century plantation town of Rathmullan (DG037-007).
The proposed development site was located to the rear of a terrace of houses, which appear to date to the second half of the 19th century. To the rear of the extension to be demolished was an overgrown back garden. In the north-west corner of the garden was a lean-to shed constructed of mortared rubble and concrete and roofed with corrugated metal.
The groundworks consisted of the excavation for a foundation for the proposed extension and the reduction of levels in the back garden. The area of the proposed extension measured 6.7m north-south by 3.6m. It was reduced by 0.85-1.2m. Below the concrete floor slab of the existing extension was rubble fill, above topsoil, above natural subsoil. The depth of topsoil was not exceeded in the back garden, within which were found a modern concrete path and the rubble foundations of the lean-to outhouse.
The monitoring revealed evidence of 19th/20th-century activity at the site. Nothing of archaeological significance was in evidence. None of the modern finds recovered were retained with the exception of a complete ceramic vessel found within the foundations of the outhouse. It was labelled 'BERK CHEMICALS' and 'F.W.BERK & CO. LTD. LONDON ENGLAND'. F.W. Berk & Co. were formed in 1870 and were manufacturers of sulphuric and other acids.

4 Lecka Grove, Castlebar Road, Ballinrobe, County Mayo