2023:728 - Hickey’s Lane, Baltrasna, Meath

The archaeological monitoring of groundworks at a site at Hickey’s Lane, Baltrasna, Co. Meath took place between August and October 2023. Initial groundworks at the site involved the excavation of a ditch along the eastern edge of Hickey’s Lane and land clearance. The grass sod, topsoil and subsoils were removed by mechanical excavator with a toothless grading bucket until the natural ground was observed by the archaeologist.
The depth of the natural ground varied across the site between 0.4m and 0.55m. The topsoil measured between 0.1m to 0.15m in thickness and was above mid-greyish brown silty clay subsoil measuring between 0.3m to 0.4m. The natural ground consisted of a light yellowish-grey clay with frequent angular and sub-angular limestones and measured a minimum of 1m to the depth of the foundation trenches.
No archaeological features or deposits were observed during archaeological monitoring at the site. Topsoil and subsoil finds were non-archaeological and included modern ceramics and plastic construction waste.
As this phase of development only included work associated with houses 1, 5 and 6 and the new road, no groundworks were undertaken for houses 2, 3 and 4. While the potential for archaeological features or deposits in this area is low, any further development at the site would require a qualified archaeologist to monitor groundworks per Condition 3 of the planning application which would still be in place.
All necessary archaeological investigations associated with the current phase of development are now considered complete, and no further action is required for the current stage of development.