County: Mayo Site name: Belleek
Sites and Monuments Record No.: NA Licence number: 24E0927
Author: Declan Moore
Site type: Urban Fringe
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 524617m, N 820221m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.125497, -9.153258
The author was commissioned to carry out a programme of archaeological testing of a proposed Solar PV Farm development at Belleek, Ballina, Co. Mayo. The proposed development is located to the north of Ballina town, west of Castle Road and east of French road in a green field site within the former Belleek Manor Demesne (NIAH Garden survey ref; MA-24-G-251206).
The testing was carried out in bright but showery conditions on 29 and 30 August 2024. 22 test trenches were excavated using a backhoe excavator fitted with a 1.9m wide bucket that removed topsoil and sod to natural subsoil and the excavated ground was assessed for the presence of archaeological features. Eleven (of the original proposed twelve trenches) north-south aligned trenches were excavated at regular intervals, each measuring 200m in length. Eleven east-west aligned trenches were excavated at regular intervals. All machine excavations were continuously supervised.
The stratigraphy encountered was consistent throughout and comprised topsoil and sod extending to a depth of between 150 and 300mm overlying a mid-brown to yellowish underlying natural subsoil with frequent inclusions of angular medium-sized stones. Outcrops of bedrock comprising shattered and cracked limestone were noted on higher ground. The middle of the western field was marshy and waterlogged with some areas flooding immediately upon excavation.
Nothing of archaeological significance was noted.
3 Gort na Rí, Athenry, Co. Galway
