Road - road/trackway

The National Monuments Service's description

At the W end of a glacial ridge on a flood plain 750m E of the River Shannon. The NE end of the trackway led to two Bronze Age round buildings (LI005-095001/2-). Two fulacht fia sites (LI005-096001/2-) are also located 2m and 20m from the trackway.
The stone and brushwood trackway was excavated in advance of the construction of the Southern Limerick Ring Road, Phase II (Taylor 2004). The trackway was on the immediate NW side and parallel with a line of contemporary prehistoric timber posts. The trackway was discontinuous and appears to have been constructed in two phases. Brushwood was initially laid down in a wet hollow (dims. 6.50m SW-NE, up to 2.50m W and 0.20m D). The brushwood was not laid in a deliberate pattern and included a number of pieces of worked wood and animal bone including antler. One of the larger pieces of timber produced a dendrochronological date indicating that the tree used in its construction was felled in 1577+9 BC. A deposit of organic soil or peat developed above the brushwood. A thin layer of stones formed a rough surface (dims. 8.40m L x 3.10m W) over the peat and brushwood. The stones (dims. 0.05-0.15m) extended beyond the brushwood-filled hollow to the SW. A second section of the stone surface was recorded 7.2m to the SW. This section of the trackway was more clearly defined (dims. 4.90m L, 1.70m W). The trackway and line of posts led to a stream.

Compiled by: Edmond O’Donovan

Date of upload: 23 July 2020

References

Taylor, K. 2004 Prehistoric features and an early medieval enclosure at Coonagh West, Co. Limerick. In J. O’Sullivan and M. Stanley (eds.) New Routes to the Past, 73-9. Dublin. Wordwell Books.