2022:486 - LAGCURRAGH, Mayo

The test excavation of a site in advance of its development in Lagcurragh townland, less than 1km north-west of Swinford in County Mayo, was carried out on 8 June 2022. The project consisted of the demolition of an existing dwelling house and the construction of a new dwelling house. The pre-development testing was necessary due to the proximity of an enclosure (RMP No. MA061-127) to the proposed development site. The report on the testing was to accompany a planning application for the proposed development.

The site was located at the south-west end of a large field of pasture. Centrally located within the site was a mid-20th-century cottage constructed of mass concrete. Enclosure MA061-127 was located 15m north-east of the site within the same field of pasture. It consisted of sub-circular, raised, platform-type ringfort, which measured 32m in east-west diameter.

The testing consisted of the excavation of four trenches, located to best cover the area of the proposed development closest to the ringfort, while avoiding an overhead power line located at the southern end of the site. The trenches measured 40.1m, 44.2m, 35.9m and 33.1m long respectively; 1.9–2.2m wide and 0.4–1.6m deep.

The pre-development testing revealed topsoil above modern fill and natural subsoils. Two areas of fill were the result of the backfilling of areas which had been the subject of small-scale quarrying of sand and gravel. The backfilling was carried out by the landowner on the 1990s. The two remaining areas of fill were the remains of field boundaries which had been levelled by the landowner in the 1990s. Apart from one blackware rim sherd (Find No. 22E0354:1) found in the topsoil, only modern artefacts were found. Nothing of archaeological significance was in evidence.