2019:073 - Drumadoon, Mayo

NMI Burial Excavation Records

County: Mayo Site name: Drumadoon

Sites and Monuments Record No.: None Licence number: 19E0237

Author: Margaret McCarthy, ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSULTANT

Site type: Unknown

Period/Dating:

ITM: E 524796m, N 785293m

Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.811723, -9.141909

An application to import inert materials from the N60 Castlebar-Balla Road Improvement Scheme at Lagnamuck into marginal lands in Drumadoon townland on the western outskirts of Balla, Co. Mayo led to a request for archaeological monitoring to be carried out during topsoil removal at the landfill site. The topsoil consisted of dark peaty sediment overlying grey moderately stony clay. A regular rectangular-shaped pit/trough (C2) filled with dark brown silt soil and occasional unburnt stone (C3) was exposed at the northern boundary of the site. It measured 1.1m east-west x 0.8m and varied in depth from 0.1m to 0.15m. Prior to excavation, the feature appeared as a truncated fulacht fiadh trough but the absence of burnt stone, both in the fill and on the surrounding surface makes this seem unlikely. There was evidence for considerable silting at the base indicating that the feature may have been filled with water. No dating material was recovered to aid interpretation therefore the feature can only be described as a regular rectangular pit/cistern of unknown date.

Rostellan, Midleton, Co. Cork