Role: Archaeological Contractor

N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge Road Project

Client: Roscommon County Council

AMS are currently undertaking Stage (i) and (ii) site works which commenced in June 2019. 

These include:

  • Geophysical Surveys
  • Standard Test Excavations
  • Site Specific Test Excavations
  • Test Excavations in Wetland
  • Underwater Surveys
  • Built Heritage Surveys
  • Townland Boundary Surveys
  • Site-specific Metal Detector Surveys prior to Stage (iii) excavation
  • Aerial Surveys
  • Palaeo-environmental Coring

AMS are also currently undertaking Stage (iii) Archaeological Excavation of eighty-eight sites for this project.

Project Scope

The N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge Road Project, Co. Roscommon, involves the construction of approximately 33.4km single carriageway new road and 15.4km realignment of existing roads, and ancillary works. 

The tender was awarded on the basis of 70% quality 30% price and is the largest single archaeological project in Ireland for a decade.

Consideration Factors

The key archaeological constraint in this region is the proximity of the route to the World Heritage Site of Rathcroghan. Rathcroghan has been identified as the site of the Fort of Cruachan – the ancient capital of the western province of Connacht. It is one of the six Royal Sites of Ireland.

Project Outcomes

Mitigation of eighty-eight previously known and new archaeological sites identified during the Stage (i) works is currently in progress. This work is set to continue until the late summer/early autumn of 2020. These sites span the prehistoric to the early modern periods and include:

  • 32 burnt mounds, three ringforts, two ring-ditches, multi-phased sites dating from the neolithic to the medieval period,
  • a Bronze Age landscape consisting of a number of round houses and a cremation cemetery,
  • two brick production sites,
  • 20 later vernacular structures, and
  • 17 miscellaneous sites.

Outreach

AMS in conjunction with Roscommon County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) are actively engaged in disseminating the results obtained from the archaeological investigations and to-date events include:

  • Heritage Week talk at the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre
  • Elphin Historical Society site visit & talk
  • Visits to local schools
  • GMIT students site visit
  • Rathcroghan Visitor Centre staff site visit

Further planned activities will involve talks at:

  • IAI 2020
  • Rathcroghan Conference 2020
  • Roscommon Historical Society May/June 2020
  • Heritage Week event 2020
  • Further visits to local schools
 

Project Activities and Finds

Video Documentary Series

Mini-documentaries on the N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge Road Project. Each video lasts around 5 minutes and describes various stages of the excavations and fieldwork.