2025:534 - SLIGO: Stage (iii) and (iv) archaeological works at Rathquarter 3: Eastern Garvogue River Bridge and Approach Roads, Sligo

Stages (iii) and (iv) of the archaeological investigation at Rathquarter 3 formerly aimed to investigate and preserve by record possible archaeological features identified during a previous programme of archaeological evaluation carried out in 2024 (Registration No. E005717).

The excavation took place in early February 2025, during which a 255m² area was stripped, uncovering the previously-flagged potential feature along with at least nine other similar, parallel features. The feature was fully excavated by hand and determined to be a non-archaeological/modern agricultural furrow. Given their similarity and alignment, the remaining parallel and equidistant features were also interpreted as modern agricultural in origin, with three of them further examined through hand-dug sections. Fragments of modern ceramics and glass were retrieved from the fill context of these features. As a result, and together with the evidence of severe and large areas of ground disturbance, the site was determined to have no archaeological significance.