Enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a gentle SW-facing slope, with a small NNW-SSE stream c. 200m to the SW. This was first identified in a geophysical survey (01R0058) in advance of the N2 Finglas – Ashbourne road and by-pass (GBS Prospection 2001). Archaeological testing and excavation (03E1252) by R. Clutterbuck at Site 25 between January and May 2004 confirmed the presence of a rath at the W edge of the road-take, together with this enclosure and other features (excavations.ie 2004: 1211).

A rectangular enclosure (int. dims c. 50m ENE-WSW; c. 40m plus NNW-SSE) defined by fosses or drains (Wth 3m; D 1.1-1.7m) is just E of the rath (ME039-009----), one drain attaching to the fosse of the rath at S. This annexe has a narrow entrance gap at the SE angle, and wide, shallow furrows cross the E part of the interior in a cross-hatch system. It dates to the high medieval period and is associated with the settlement cluster (ME039-009004-) rather than the original occupation of the rath. Layers with high medieval wares covered parts of the rath and a hearth in the upper levels of the rath’s fosse is associated with Leinster cooking ware. (Clutterbuck 2009, 1, 36 – 42; 2009a, 32)

The plot may have continued in use into the late Middle Ages but in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries new ditches were dug which produced imported pottery from Staffordshire as well as German stonewares. In the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century a stone-walled cabin (Structure V) was built on the N side of the road. It was rectangular (ext. dims 7.3m x 4.1m) with stone walls (Wth c. 0.5m) on three sides but open on the N. The interior was deepened with the removal of material that was banked against the outside of the walls. The beaten earth floor had a number of hearths, and a drain exited through a doorway at W. This structure was only occupied for a short time, perhaps one year, and was not depicted on any map. The demolition phase contained modern ceramics and glass as well as clay pipe fragments. (Clutterbuck 2009, 1, 46-8; 2009a)

See the attached annotated plan from Clutterbuck (2009, fig. 17)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 5 May, 2022

References

GBS Prospection 2001. N2 Finglas – Ashbourne Road Scheme: Geophysical Survey. Licence: 01R0058. GSB Prospection. Unpublished report 2002/114.

Clutterbuck, R. 2009a Cookstown, Co. Meath: a medieval rural settlement. in Corlett, C. and M. Potterton (eds) Rural settlement in medieval Ireland in the light of recent archaeological excavations. 3, 27-47. Dublin, Wordwell

Clutterbuck, R. 2009 N2 Finglas – Ashbourne Road Scheme. Report on Archaeological Excavation of Site 25, Cookstown, County Meath. Licence: 03E1252. Unpublished report, CRDS. 3 vols