County: Kilkenny Site name: Connahy
Sites and Monuments Record No.: KK010-036 Licence number: 23E0356
Author: Laurence Dunne
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 646902m, N 669059m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.770527, -7.304950
Archaeological monitoring was undertaken in May 2023 with regard to a proposed forestry plantation of c.4.83ha and associated 1,250m of deer fencing at Connahy townland, Ballyraggett, Co. Kilkenny. The zones of notification of two recorded monuments abut the proposed site (Plot 2) at its south-western limits. These are: ringfort KK010-036 located to the west of Plot 2 and a levelled enclosure KK010-132, abutting to the south. Prior the monitoring a 25m exclusion zone was physically established on the ground around the northern limits of ringfort KK010-036. The zone was set-up using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and fenced off under archaeological supervision. It was not possible to physically establish the zone of notification for enclosure KK010-132 on the ground due to dense vegetation. However, the scrub and mature vegetation and associated farm trackway acted as an effective natural protective zone.
All proposed forestry ground preparation works were completed using a single ripping plough tooth without mouldboard attached to the back of a tractor. A series of linear cuttings of the ground were oriented north-west/south-east within Plot 1 and north-east/south-west within Plot 2. A distance between the cuts was c.1.9m and the average depth 0.25m. No natural subsoil has been exposed as the topsoil was not stripped.
No archaeological artefacts were recovered, and no evidence of potential previously unrecorded sites was discovered.
3 Lios na Lohart, Ballyvelly, Tralee Co. Kerry
