Barrow — unclassified in Rathbane South

Situated immediately S of Rathbane Golf Course, in gently rolling pasture, prior to road construction. The monument has been impacted on by the construction of the N20. Indicated with hachures on the 1924 OS 6-inch map, as an oval platform or mound (diam. c. 40m NW-SE; 20m N-S). Test excavations were carried out in 1997 by Audrey Gahan for ADS (97E0287), in advance of road construction for the N20/N21. The site 'appeared on inspection as a sub circular mound. Slight depressions in the surrounding area suggested the possibility of a ditch. The mound, which was approximately 15m in diameter, was constructed by layers of redeposited subsoil. A row of large stones was uncovered which may represent kerbing. That the mound had been heavily truncated became immediately apparent…Under the redeposited material the remains of a ditch, encircling the mound, were uncovered. This was roughly v-shaped and was also largely filled with redeposited subsoil. The possible remains of a second ditch were found, between 1m and 2m beyond the first ditch. This was ill-defined and was filled by redeposited boulder clay. No artefacts were recovered which could suggest a date for the site. Excavations by Frank Coyne of Aegis under licence No. 99E0630 were summarised as following; 'This site was first noted during fieldwork for an archaeological impact assessment for the Limerick Southern Ring Road and identified as a possible barrow. It was subsequently test-trenched and found to be of archaeological merit and was then excavated from December 1999 to February 2000. This site was almost perfectly circular, measuring 14.5m north-south by 14m, and survived to a maximum height of 0.75m. It was already known from local information that this mound was substantially denuded in recent years in an attempt to level the land. However, a sufficient amount of the site survived to indicate two distinct phases of activity. It appears that this site originally took the form of a low mound, created from a layer of stone cobbles and capped with a layer of redeposited clay. This clay was removed in recent years in the course of land improvements, but the cobbled layer survived. A small quantity of cremated bone and a quantity of charcoal were recovered from this surface. Removal of this layer of cobbles exposed a substantial amount of pre-mound activity in the form of several irregular cut features in the naturally occurring boulder clay. The largest of these measured 3.18m north-south by 4.54m, having a depth of almost 2m. A substantial amount of charcoal was recovered from this cut, as was a quantity of animal bone, a piece of flint and portion of a human femur. A nearby pond, which curved around the site from west to north, measuring 25m in length, may have been the source for the original clay capping of the site. Several post-holes were excavated around the perimeter of the site but did not form any discernible pattern. A 50m area was stripped of topsoil on either side of this site, but no additional features were uncovered. No enclosing element was uncovered. The available evidence seems to point to this site being the remains of a funerary monument in the barrow tradition.