County: Westmeath Site name: Coosan
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 23E0926
Author: Chris Coffey, IAC Archaeology
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 603697m, N 743421m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.440863, -7.944355
A programme of archaeological testing and assessment was carried out at a proposed development at Coosan, Co. Westmeath over the course of four days from 13 November 2023. The development area is formed by three fields of pasture and is positioned c. 500m north of the Athlone Bypass; c. 1.3km north from the historic centre of Athlone (WM029-042) and c. 750m to the east of Shannon River. There are no recorded monuments within the area of proposed development. The closest monument is a standing stone-pair (WM029-002), c. 846m to the southeast.
The trenches targeted open green space and anomalies identified in aerial imagery analysis, in order to fully investigate the archaeological potential of the site. A total of 12 trenches and two trial pits trenches were mechanically investigated across the test area, which measured 522 linear metres in total. Topsoil was found to comprise a claggy organic clay, changing to a waterlogged peat within the eastern field. Subsoil varied across the site. In the eastern, waterlogged, section of the site the subsoil comprises a stoney grey marl, with overlying peat up to 1.6m in depth. Within the southwestern and northern fields, the subsoil was a mottled greyish-green sand with frequent pockets of gravel and boulders. Trenches 1-5 targeted the anomalies identified in the aerial imagery analyses, namely several potential enclosures and a wide linear feature. No evidence of these features was identified within the test trenches. It is possible that the anomalies relate to the placement of cattle feeders or variations in the vegetation.
No features or finds of archaeological significance were identified during the course of the assessment.
Unit G1 Network Enterprise Park, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow.
