County: Galway Site name: Hilltop Close (Townparks 1st Division), Tuam
Sites and Monuments Record No.: None Licence number: 22E0796
Author: Richard Crumlish
Site type: Urban
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 543297m, N 752658m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.520829, -8.855070
The monitoring of groundworks at a site as part of its development at the western end of Hilltop Close, a modern housing development located along the eastern side of the Milltown Road in Tuam, County Galway, was carried out on 28 November 2022. The monitoring was a condition of the planning permission and was necessary due to the proximity of a ringfort (GA029-171) and associated Children's Burial Ground (GA029-171001). The project consisted of the construction of a two-storey detached dwelling house, domestic shed and all associated works.
The grass-covered site had been the subject of backfilling during the construction of the remainder of the adjacent housing estate with concrete, tarmac and rubble visible on the surface. A previous report on the site, in 2008, noted that the topsoil had been removed five years previously during construction of the housing development. No features of archaeological significance were visible within or in the immediate vicinity of the development site. A number of modern houses occupy the site of the ringfort GA029-171 and children's burial ground GA029-171001 which was located approximately 30m to the west of the site.
Three areas of the development site, making up the entire site area, were stripped of topsoil. These three areas consisted of the lawn, located at the west of the site; the driveway, located centrally within the site; and the dwelling and domestic shed, located at the east end of the site. The lawn area measured 8-10m east-west by 12m and was reduced by 0.4-0.8m. The driveway measured 11m east-west by 14m and was reduced by 0.25-0.8m. The dwelling and domestic shed measured 15m east-west by 15m and this area was reduced by 0.3-0.8m.
Below the topsoil and fill on the surface were natural subsoils, in the form of orange/brown plastic clay and grey boulder clay. The topsoil contained modern, 20th- and 21st-century artefacts. The fill on the surface consisted of builders' rubble from the adjacent housing development. Nothing of archaeological significance was in evidence.
4 Lecka Grove, Castlebar Road, Ballinrobe, County Mayo
