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Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland

Excavation - miscellaneous

Ratoath, County Meath, Ireland

Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915) covering the location of Excavation - miscellaneous, Ratoath, County Meath, with a pin at the register's coordinates
Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915), covering this location. Courtesy of the National Library of Scotland. The pin is ours, placed from the register's coordinates.

The record

Townland
Ratoath
County
Meath
Country
Ireland
First-edition OS map
Not indicated
Latest-edition OS map
Not indicated
Coordinates
53.50701, -6.46229
SMR number
ME044-034016-

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

4 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1799 map "Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

Historical maps covering this location

  • 1799 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1811 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1830 · V.3:11-15:XV. Britisches Reich. C. Kon: Ireland. a. Prov: Leinster. Counties: 1-12 (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1891 · Ireland 16 (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

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This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗

The National Monuments Service's description

Archaeological testing (02E1101) by R. Meenan just W of the motte and bailey (ME044-044001-) recorded the outer edge of a ditch (Wth of top 6m plus; D 1m plus) that seems to be concentric with the visible fosse of the motte (excavations.ie 2002:1520; 2004:1330). It appeared beneath garden soil (D c. 0.8-1m) and had a top fill of a dark grey silty clay with organic material that produced two sherds of medieval pottery. It is probably an outer defensive fosse associated with the motte. A second ditch (Wth of top 2.5m; D 0.5m) with a similar fill also produced medieval pottery and entered the first ditch from the W. A combination of re-siting the development and piling ensures that the ditches are preserved. (Meenan 2002)
More testing (19E0463) by S. Hickey further N within the same property uncovered a short length (L 3.3m) of the ditch before it was cut by a modern drain, but the ditch continued into the neighbouring property to the NW (excavations.ie 2019:129).

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 9 December 2021

Meenan, R. 2002 Archaeological Assessment at Main Street, Ratoath. Licence: 02E11001. Unpublished report, Author

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Sites and Monuments Record data: National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Record text is reproduced unchanged. National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland · CC BY 4.0
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