County: Mayo Site name: Kilmovee
Sites and Monuments Record No.: MA 073 041 Licence number: 23E0133
Author: Patrick Walsh
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 555132m, N 793850m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.892113, -8.682580
Archaeological testing was required by the local planning authority prior to construction of a dwelling house, onsite treatment system and site works at Kilmovee, Co. Mayo as the proposed house was located within the Zone of Notification for MA 073-041. MA 073-041 was visited by Jane O’Shaughnessy from the National Monuments Section, and she described it as follows. “In pasture, located on a rise. This stone is not shown on the 1838 OS 6-inch map; it is indicted on the 1919 edition where it is named ‘Lauaghnabra’. A recumbent boulder (c. 1.3m NNE-SSW; c. 1.25m; ESE-WNW; T 0.3-0.6m) resting on a slight plinth of sod. A smaller boulder is located 6m to SSW. Towards the N end of the field there is a partly sod-covered small cairn /heap of field stones (1.4m E−W; 1.2m N−S; H 0.3m)”. These stones, usually standing, but in this case having fallen, on present evidence cannot be classified as any other known archaeological monument type. They may be all that remains or is visible of a partially-destroyed or obscured archaeological monument which may date to any period from prehistory onwards. The recumbent stones were photographed at the time of the testing. They are now covered with moss and grass. There now stands close to these stones a recently-built monument made with cut stone and bonded together with lime mortar.
The test trenches were excavated. Topsoil varied from 0.1–4m deep. The natural subsoil varied from an orange compacted stony subsoil to a greyer compacted natural boulder clay. Nothing of archaeological significance was found.
Murneen South, Claremorris, Co Mayo
