Field boundary

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated in a slight hollow in a fairly level landscape. Archaeological testing (04E0584) by N. Fairburn at Testing Area 11 of Contract 3 in advance of the M3 motorway identified burnt mound material (excavations.ie 2004:1158) at two places that were designated Ardbraccan 1A and 1B and were fully resolved (E003115) by M. Mossop (2008) over three weeks in August 2006 (excavations.ie 2006:1486). Area B (dims 20m x 20m) revealed two parallel drains (L 14.7m; Wth 2.64m; D 0.45m: L 6.7m; Wth 2.6m; DS 0.9m) placed 1.5m apart filled with clays and silts retaining organic matter. A sample of fruitwood charcoal from a basal layer of the longer feature provided a C14 date of 975-806 cal. BC (Beta 247111). A pit (diam. 1.6m; D 0.2m) had two fills with some traces of burnt stone. A sample of hazel charcoal from this pit yielded a C14 date of 2471-2209 cal. BC (Beta 247114). P 5.
This indicates that the burnt mound material sealing the cistern is unrelated to the trough that it covers. A metalled track (Wth 2m) led N (L 14.5m) from the N edge of the cistern. (Mossop and Ruddle 2009, 5)

See the attached plan from Mossop and Ruddle (2009, fig. 9)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 11 April 2023

Fairburn, N. 2004 M3 Clonee-North of Kells. Contract 3 – Navan Bypass. Report on Archaeological Assessment at Testing Area 11, Ardbraccan, County Meath. Licence: 04E0584. Unpublished report, Archaeological Consultancy Services
Mossop, M. and E. Ruddle 2009 M3 Clonee-North of Kells. Contract 3 – Navan Bypass. Report on the Archaeological Excavation of Ardbraccan 1, Co. Meath. Licence: E003115. Final Unpublished report, Archaeological Consultancy Services 70.94m OD ITM true B (683032, 766605)