2019:325 - Pass, Laois

The test excavation of a site in advance of its development at Pass townland, c. 5km south-south-east of Portlaoise in County Laois, was carried out on 9 July 2019. The project consisted of the construction of a farm shed containing cubicles and an automatic milking system, a slurry/washings storage tank and associated site works and services. The testing was a condition of planning and was necessary due to the location of a number of recorded monuments in the vicinity.
The proposed development was located in a field of pasture, bisected by a farm access track, within a farmyard. The site was located adjacent to the site of 'Brookvale', which is no longer extant, but was marked and named on 19th- and early 20th-century Ordnance Survey maps. An overgrown pile of architectural fragments located in a corner of the field of pasture may have originated from 'Brookvale'.
The nearby recorded monuments were 'Pass House' (LA018-016), a 16th/17th-century dwelling located 160m west of the proposed development site; a battlefield site (LA018-034) over 300m away, which referred to the 'Battle of the Pass of the Plumes' which took place in May 1599; and a church (LA018-017001), graveyard (LA018-017002) and ecclesiastical enclosure (LA018-017003) located 240m to the east.
Testing consisted of the excavation, by machine, of four trenches, located to best cover the area of the proposed development which was accessible. The trenches measured 20m, 30.2m, 6.3m and 4.4m long respectively; 1.8-2.2m wide and 0.1-0.7m deep. Testing revealed topsoil above natural soils and bedrock in three of the four trenches. Below the topsoil in the fourth trench was natural subsoil, bedrock, modern rubble, a gravel path and a mortared rubble and red brick wall. The path and wall were two modern features associated with 'Brookvale'. None of the modern artefacts recovered were retained. Nothing of archaeological significance was in evidence.

4 Lecka Grove, Castlebar Road, Ballinrobe, County Mayo