2025:365 - Burke’s Hill, Birr, Offaly

In total, 13 trenches were excavated across the site with a total length of 720m. The natural was found to be a mix of a compact, light to mid-bluish grey clay/boulder clay on the flat, north-west part of the site and a firm, mid-bluish grey sand/clayey sand on the sloping, south-east side of the site. The topsoil was deep on the site, ranging from 0.4m to 1.6m. No archaeological features were found in the flat, north-western part of the site.

Several northeast-to-southwest-running linear features were found in the south-eastern part of the site. One linear feature (C1001, C1101, C1207, C1301) was found running through the four trenches (Trenches 10-13) located in this part of the site. It appeared to have an average width of 1m to 1.6m, and in the area where it was dug, a depth of 0.25m to 0.4m was recorded. The fill was mainly a compact, mid-orangish-brown silty clay that contained a very small amount of charcoal and shell.

A group of northeast-to-southwest-running furrows (C1203, C1204, 1205) were found in one of the trenches (Trench 12). They were located within a distance of 3.5m and were located between 0.6m and 1m from each other. They were about 0.4m wide and filled with compact, mid-orangish-brown silty clay. Three other northeast-to-southwest-running linear features (C1201, C1202, C1206) were found in the same trench (Trench 12). They were filled with a compact, mid-orangish-brown silt-clay and were largely sterile, except for one that contained a small fragment of animal bone visible in the fill. All features identified are, in all likelihood, indicative of agricultural activity.