2024:518 - Ramolin and Shrule, Mayo

The test excavation of a site in advance of its development at Ramolin and Shrule townlands on the northern outskirts of Shrule village in County Mayo, was carried out on 17 and 18 June 2024. The project consisted of the construction of a new all-weather astro sports facility and a car park. The testing was necessary due to the size of the proposed development site and its proximity to a recorded monument (MA122A-002). The testing was carried out as part of the planning process.

The proposed development site was located along the east side of the N84 at the northern end of Shrule village, just south of the local primary school. The site was comprised of a small, relatively flat, field which was in use as a playing pitch for the adjacent school and a portion of a large field of pasture to the south. The dividing boundary between the two fields was the townland boundary between Ramolin and Shrule. A large enclosure (MA122A-002) was located in the larger field, approximately 25m south of the proposed development site.

The testing consisted of the excavation of eight trenches which measured 50.1m, 59m, 59.6m, 60.4m, 40m, 29.9m, 28.4m and 25.2m respectively; 1.6-1.9m wide and 0.2-0.9m deep. In six of the eight trenches there was natural undisturbed stratigraphy, i.e. topsoil above natural subsoils. Modern fill was found in a trench which was located close to the adjacent school and may have been the result of a recent development within the school campus. A number of modern artefacts were recovered from the topsoil and the the spoil.

A 0.9m wide deposit of silt loam, found in a trench in the larger field to the south, may be the remains of a field boundary, which extended out from the enclosure across the large field in which it was situated, which was removed in the past. Due to the discovery of the feature of potential archaeological significance, it was recommended that all groundworks located in that area of the proposed development in the larger field would be monitored by a suitably qualified archaeologist.