County: Kerry Site name: Coolnaharragill Upper & Coolnaharragill Lower
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 23E0716
Author: Bruce Sutton for Rubicon Heritage Services Ltd
Site type: Test-trenching
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 462849m, N 589117m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.037057, -9.999123
A programme of archaeological test trenching was undertaken in the townlands of Coolnaharragill Upper & Coolnaharragill Lower, section 1B west of the South Kerry Greenway, Co. Kerry on 23 August 2023. These works were undertaken for Kerry County Council.
The South Kerry Greenway is an approximately 32km long greenway project, which will be largely constructed along the former line of the Great Southern and Western Railway (South-West Kerry Branch) between Renard, south-west of Cahirciveen and Faha townland, west of Glenbeigh. Section 1B west is approximately 0.5km long, and is located in the townlands of Coolnaharrigal Upper and Coolnaharragill Lower (between start point Ch. 26,900 ITM 463147E, 589077N and end point Ch. 27,460 ITM 462620E, 589110N).
The project was subject of an EIAR and CPO. The project was approved by An Bord Pleanála with modifications (Board Order ABP-302450-18) in October 2020. In relation to archaeological heritage the EIAR recommended that Kerry County Council appoint a licence-eligible archaeologist to undertake archaeological testing in three fields to the east (Ch. 26,980 – Ch. 27,150) due to being located in marginal wetland.
No archaeological features and/or deposits were noted during the test-trenching. Localised deposits of naturally formed peat were recorded at depths in excess of 2.7m.
The site has the potential for a future palaeoecology project, but this is outside the scope of test-trenching. Peat deposits appear to be the result of peat-buildup in Stoonkaun Lake, which is visible to the east on the historic 6-inch map, and smaller on the 25-inch map. There is good potential for diatoms and other analyses that could inform on water quality and temperature changes over time as well as the pollen data for human activity and landscape change.
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