County: Offaly Site name: Lumcloon, Falsk
Sites and Monuments Record No.: n/a Licence number: 24E0105
Author: Liam Coen c/o Courtney Deery Heritage Consultancy
Site type: Testing
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 613718m, N 720132m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.231402, -7.794535
Test excavations took place on 7-11 March 2024 at a site of a proposed solar PV farm in Lumcloon and Falsk townlands, Co. Offaly. 26 trenches were excavated targeting geophysical survey (Bird & Young 2023) results, areas of known ground disturbance and a sample of areas of potential ground disturbance. Topsoil was generally shallow, overlying a grey sandy and gravelly subsoil. Peat deposits were only encountered in a north-western field, located on the margin of a large bog area.
Only a single area of archaeological interest was identified during the course of testing. Corresponding to Site 2 in the geophysical survey, a shallow (<0.25m in depth) circular ditch c. 11m in diameter was identified and contained some charcoal, burnt clay and burnt bone in its fill. This was interpreted as a prehistoric ring-ditch, a ritual monument that often contains cremation deposits.
Reference:
Bird, C. & Young T. 2023 ‘Geophysical Survey Report, Archaeological Magnetic Gradiometry Survey, Lumcloon Solar Farm, County Offaly. Licence No. 23R0518’. Unpublished report prepared by TerraDAT UK on behalf of Entrust.
Lynwood House, Ballinteer, Dublin 16
