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This report presents the results of archaeological investigations carried out on behalf of Offaly County Council as part of the Advance Archaeological Works Contract for the N52 Tullamore Bypass. The work was undertaken under Ministerial Direction A033 and National Monuments Section Registration No E2493 in the townland of Ardan, Co. Offaly. The NMS no E2493 was allocated to all general testing work undertaken on the scheme, and to five sites discovered and fully excavated during this project (Appendix 7). The Minister for the Environment, Heritage & Local Government, following consultation with the National Museum of Ireland, directed that Liam McKinstry of Headland Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd should proceed with archaeological excavation. Archaeological testing carried in October 2007 revealed two features of archaeological significance in Ballard and Ardan, the latter is the subject of this report. The feature at Ardan consisted of a probable charcoal production pit with two fills (Plate 1). The basal fill was composed of mid?blackish grey charcoal rich silty sand whilst the upper fill was composed of mid?blackish grey ash and charcoal mix with occasional small stone inclusions (Plate 2). Charcoal from the basal fill returned a radiocarbon date of 1314?1432 cal AD (UBA?10589). The site was fully excavated during the test excavation phase.