2020:232 - McDermott Street, Ballina (Tirawley By.), Mayo

Monitoring took place at a proposed development which entailed the construction of a new school covering an area of 5.6 hectares.
Archaeology in the form of a burnt spread (MA030-105---) which measured 10m east-west was uncovered in November 2017 in Field 1 in the north-east of the development area during a previous phase of testing. Following test trenching in 2017 the burnt spread had been covered in a protective geotextile material and backfilled. The National Monuments Service recommended that no subsurface ground works take place in the vicinity of this area. The area was fenced under archaeological supervision and topsoil to a depth of 4m was deposited on top of the sod which covered the burnt spread, thus preserving the monument in situ.
In consultation with the National Monuments Service, it was also deemed necessary that the entire development area be subject to archaeological monitoring during construction of the proposed school and associated works.
A programme of monitoring of groundworks, involving mechanical stripping of topsoil across the development area, was undertaken on various dates between 4 November to 9 December 2020. The conditions were changeable during the works and wet weather occasionally impacted on the movement of the machines due to the soft ground.
The overlying topsoil was removed from the development site to the underlying substrate using a mechanical excavator and bulldozer equipped with a non-graded and graded bucket.
Monitoring began with Field 4 where the overburden was mechanically removed to accommodate the access road to the west and the site compound to the south-east of Field 4.
Following the establishment of the site infrastructure topsoil removal began in Field 1, followed by Field 2 and concluded in Field 3. No topsoil was removed from the football pitch adjacent to Field 2, instead topsoil was deposited there. The sod and topsoil were mechanically removed, and the underlying gravel and stone substrate was exposed below a depth of between 0.3m to 0.8m.
The stratigraphy varied little and consisted of shallow sod over mid-brown silty clay with occasional small stones. This overlay a mid-brownish orange boulder clay containing some stones of varying sizes including large sub-angular boulders. Moderate deposits of sand and fine gravel are present, particularly in the western portion of Field 2. Also in Field 2, along the northern boundary, there was a steep incline into the adjacent housing estate. In this area there was disturbance including deposits of concrete, probably from the building of the housing estate. Further disturbance was present in Field 3 where a buried broadband cable was encountered.
Throughout the course of monitoring no finds or features of an archaeological nature were noted during the removal of topsoil.

Cooldrumman Upper, Carney, Co. Sligo