RATHMELTON — Rathmelton

No archaeological significance. C225210 Excavation licence number 99E0343 The test excavations were positioned in order to assess the location and complexity of the remains of any archaeological deposits on the site of the proposed development. The site, which overlooks the Leanann River, slopes steeply downwards from south to north, and, although it was much overgrown along the margins, it was possible to excavate the two long trenches without difficulty. The third trench, however, was excavated running across the line of the slope from north-east upwards to south-west. The line of this trench was dictated by the fact that the general slope of the site was too great for the mechanical digger to track directly up the incline. The results from all three trenches were similar, with topsoil directly covering a yellow/brown, compacted, sandy clay. The results suggested that nothing of archaeological significance survives on the site. In fact, the general steepness of the area may have mitigated against any occupation of this general area of Ramelton in the past. (Excavations Bulletin 1999) Eoin Halpin, ADS Ltd, Unit 48, Westlink Enterprise Centre, 30-50 Distillery Street, Belfast BT12 5BJ. Excavation licence number 99E0636 Monitoring was carried out of the excavation of lift shaft trenches and foundation trenches and general ground reduction to an existing mill building and bottle factory in the vicinity of the site of an earlier castle at The Quays, Ramelton, Co. Donegal, between 22 October and 9 November 1999. The natural subsoil was sealed by a dark brown, silty clay that contained a number of sherds of post-medieval pottery and modern rubble with frequent red brick, slate, tiles etc. The uppermost strata are interpreted as representing redeposited archaeological layers/formation deposits for the building of the warehouse/mill buildings, and the deposits in Lift shaft 1 as material deposited to facilitate land reclamation or deeper excavations for the construction of the upstanding buildings. (Excavations Bulletin 1999). Declan Moore, 8 Yewland Green, Renmore, Galway. Excavation licence number 02E1058 No. 20 Bridge Street was demolished to make way for four local authority houses. To create the required space, levelling of a steep bank and demolition of a stone-built retaining wall were required. The wall was inspected by a conservation architect and found to be of no significance. It was recorded and taken down by hand. Uncut stones were bonded by a loose mortar with brick fragments. Behind this, the bank comprised 0.6m of dark topsoil overlying a light yellow, loose boulder clay. Nothing of archaeological significance was observed. (Excavations Bulletin 2002) Tom Rogers, Moore Ltd, Unit 6, Riveroaks, Claregalway, Co. Galway.