2023:788 - CUSHALING, Offaly

Archaeological monitoring of all relevant groundworks at the associated with the construction of Cushaling Windfarm in the townlands of Ballykilleen, Shean, Kilcumber, Cloncant and Cushaling, Co. Offaly and Ticknevin, Co. Kildare ran continuously from January to October 2023, during which an archaeologist was always present on site. The site is bisected by the L1001 local road with Turbines 1-5 and Temporary Site Compound 1 being located to the west and Turbines 6-9 and Temporary Site Compound 2 being located to the east. From the L1001 to the immediate west, access groundworks ran though areas of disturbed stone and gravel with evidence of flying tipping. Beyond this as far as Turbine 4, the groundworks ran through an area of reclaimed pasture. The stratigraphic sequence here consisted of peat that ranged between 0.65m to 2.1m in depth, averaging 1.05m in depth. The underlying subsoil consisted of mid-grey clay to the east and mid-grey sandy clay to the west. East of L1001, construction works ran southwest to northeast from the L1001 public road, with Turbine 6 located immediately adjacent L1001 and Turbine 9 marking the north-eastern extent of this programme of works. In general, this area consisted of a mixture of pasture of rough grazing and reclaimed peatland. The site access road was primarily constructed as a floating road across areas where deep peat was present. Elsewhere, where ground conditions were suitable, the access road was constructed by laying a geotechnical membrane directly onto the subsoil. No archaeological features, finds or deposits were uncovered during archaeological monitoring of groundworks at the site. There was no impact to any archaeological monuments in the proximity of this program of site works.