County: Limerick Site name: O’Connor Park, Reerasta North and Ardagh, Ardagh
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LI028-103001 (Historic town of Ardagh). Licence number: 23E0710 & 23R0399
Author: Graham Hull
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 527800m, N 638830m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.496088, -9.063281
Test trenching and metal detection was carried out on the site of a proposed ten-unit social housing development at O’Connor Park, Ardagh. The tested area is an irregular-shaped plot of scrubby, poor-quality, sloping pasture, to the west of an existing residential area, O’Connor Park. The southern part of the proposal site extends into the Zone of Notification for the historic town of Ardagh (LI028-103001), just 380 north-east of Ardagh Fort, where the Ardagh Hoard was discovered in 1868.
Seven test trenches were excavated, each 1.9m wide, with a total length of 138.8m. The stratigraphy was typically 0.25-0.5m of mid-greyish brown sandy silt topsoil overlying mid-grey sandy clay with orange mottling (glacial till) interspersed with occasional grey gravel mottling. It was observed that the site had previously been heavily disturbed by drainage works and modern refuse and building debris were present in topsoil throughout the site. No archaeological features, deposits or artefacts were noted in any of the trenches, or during a metal detector survey of the site.
TVAS (Ireland) Ltd Ahish, Ballinruan, Crusheen, Co. Clare
