2022:687 - Hilly Road & R208, Drumshanbo, Leitrim

Archaeological monitoring of groundworks was undertaken for Uisce Éireann’s (former Irish Water) Water Network Programme, for two Water Mains Schemes (WMS): Hilly Road and R208 in Drumshanbo town, Co. Leitrim. The monitoring for the Hilly Road WMS was carried out by Lydia Cagney of Archaeological Management Solutions (AMS) between 3−6 August 2021. In January 2022 the licence (21E0293) was transferred to Colum Hardy of AMS and the monitoring for the R208 WMS was carried out intermittently between 24 August and 7 September 2022.

Both schemes were located in the small town of Drumshanbo in Co. Leitrim, which is situated to the southeast of Lough Allen on the River Shannon. The Hilly Road WMS was located along Hilly Road (Hill Road), which is the south-eastern approach leading into Main Street through Barrack Square. The R208 WMS is located along Ballinamore Road (R208) adjacent to the Aghagrania River, and along Grattan Avenue, a local road that conjoined with the R208 to the north. The Hilly Road WMS traversed three townlands: Drumshanbo, Corryard and Drislernaun, whilst the R208 WMS was entirely situated within the townland of Drumshanbo.

The groundworks for the Hilly Road scheme consisted of an open-cut trench located 5m to the northwest of a bridge (NIAH 30808026) and measured 23m in length by 0.6–1m in width by 1.2m in depth. The only features revealed during the Hilly Road works were two nineteenth-century stone culverts and a potential stone structure. Both culverts were possibly associated with the original construction of the road, while the stone structure potentially represents a stone wall foundation, most likely associated with the houses located to its southwest (built in the 1800s). The two stone culverts both ran roughly east–west and were located c.2m apart, directly underlying the modern street surface. Both culverts were in a collapsed state and were silted over upon being exposed. They were constructed of flat quarried stones which formed the sides, bases and tops, and measured 0.7m in length by 0.5m in width by 0.1m in depth.

The stone structure was located in the south-east portion of the trench and was partially cut in the northeast and southwest by modern service pipes. It was orientated north-west/south-east and measured 1.7m in length by 0.4m in width by 0.4m in depth. It comprised flat quarried stones, similar in size and shape to those found in the stone culverts, and was bound with mortar. It was present only in its north-east-facing section and was overlain by a layer of hardcore gravel.

The excavation works for the R208 scheme comprised nine exploratory trenches that varied in size,  ranging from 1–4m in length, 0.55–2m in width and 0.6–1.4m in depth and a section of a continuous open-cut trench along Ballinamore Road (R208) and Grattan Avenue. The continuous open-cut trench measured 12m in length by 0.5m in width by 1–1.2m in depth. A cobbled road surface dated to the nineteenth or twentieth century was revealed underlying the modern road surface, cut in the centre and in the west side by modern service trenches. It measured approximately 3m in length by 0.5m in width by 0.15m in depth and comprised sub-angular limestone which ranged in size from 0.1–0.2m.

No potential archaeological objects, features or deposits were noted in any of the trenches during the archaeological monitoring.

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