County: Donegal Site name: Churchland Quarters
Sites and Monuments Record No.: None Licence number: 20E0522
Author: Richard Crumlish
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 646156m, N 945104m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 55.250924, -7.274072
Monitoring of demolition and groundworks at a development at Churchtown, on the western outskirts of Carndonagh, in County Donegal, was carried out on 26 August and 28 September 2020. The project consisted of the demolition of an existing dwelling house and outbuilding and construction of a replacement dwelling house, domestic garage and associated site development works. The monitoring was condition of planning permission granted by Donegal County Council.
The site contained a bungalow of mid-20th-century date with landscaped lawns to the north-east and south-east and an outbuilding and garden to the south-west.
The nearest recorded monument to the development was the Donagh early ecclesiastical site, located a short distance away to the south-east, which includes a church site (DG011-035001), graveyard (DG011-035006), the 'Marigold Stone' (DG011-035004) and the 'Donagh Cross' (DG011-035005) which is also a National Monument in state ownership (no. 271).
The groundworks consisted of the reduction in levels for the new building, associated services and drainage and the raising of levels to the south-west and south-east of the dwelling.
The foundation trenches for the new building measured 1-1.8m wide and 1.05-1.4m deep. A number of pads, which measured 1.5-3m x 1.6-3.3m x 1.2-1.5m deep, were also excavated as part of the foundations. The area to the south-west of the demolished building, which was stripped of topsoil prior to the raising of levels, measured 27.5-28m north-east/south-west by 16.5-19.5m and was reduced by 0.2-0.4m. The area to the south-east of the demolished building, which was also stripped of topsoil, measured 35m north-east/south-west by 12m and was reduced by 0.1-0.3m.
The stratigraphy revealed during monitoring of the groundworks consisted of modern 20th-century layers associated with the demolished dwelling, i.e. pea-gravel, quarried stone, tarmac, fill, disturbed topsoil and the foundations of the demolished dwelling. Below these modern layers were natural subsoils. Below the topsoil to the south-west and south-east of the demolished dwelling was natural subsoil and bedrock.
Only modern 20th-century artefacts were recovered. Nothing of archaeological significance was in evidence.
4 Lecka Grove, Castlebar Road, Ballinrobe, County Mayo
