2022:500 - LAHARDANE AND BALLINCOLLY, Cork

Archaeological testing of the site of a permitted Strategic Housing Development at Lahardane and Ballincolly, Ballyvolane, Cork was undertaken in order to comply with the recommendations outlined in the Cultural Heritage chapter of the project EIAR and to de-risk the site from an archaeological perspective prior to the commencement of development works. The testing programme was carried out between 7 and 22 December 2022.

Thirty-six linear test trenches, totalling 3467m, were excavated across the Phase 2 lands during the testing programme. While many of the trenches targeted potential archaeological responses identified during a preceding geophysical survey of the Phase 2 lands (Detection Device Licence No. 22R0024), none of these responses proved to be archaeological in nature and were either associated with past agricultural activity or natural variations in the underlying subsoil.

No artefacts, features or deposits that could be considered to be archaeological in nature were revealed during the testing programme. The testing programme demonstrated that the Phase 2 lands have been subject to intensive tillage agriculture for many decades and these practices have quite literally left their mark on the underlying substrata. Excluding the evidence of this agricultural activity, the subsoil across the tested area was exceptionally sterile. This appears to demonstrate that the exposed and high lying site was not a favourable location in terms of historic habitation and can be considered to possess a very low archaeological potential.