Road - road/trackway

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a slight S-facing slope and located just S of the present Dunshaughlin - Drumree road. A WNW-ESE metaled surface (Wth 12m) was encountered during archaeological monitoring (15E0125) by S. McGlade in Phase 1 of the archaeological mitigation connected with a housing development, and a section of it (L 42m) was excavated by the same archaeologist under the same licence (excavations.ie 2018:032). It consisted of patches of rounded stones with some gravel set into the subsoil and in some places incorporated the bedrock. It was bordered at S by an open drain (Wth 1.5m; max. D 0.7m) that was rock-cut in places and filled with a grey/brown sandy silt. The road even had a pothole (dims 2.1m x 1.78m; D 0.18m) filled with compact orange silt with some stone and animal bone beneath a compact grey clayey silt. The surface was uneven but there was a general slope down to the S. The road was covered by a light silty clay that had accumulated since its abandonment and contained occasional pieces of slag, animal bone, glass and a belt buckle. The road and its boundary drain ran parallel with the present road and was undoubtedly its medieval precursor. (McGlade 2020, vol. 1, 48-50)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 9 December 2021

References

McGlade, S. 2020 Preliminary Excavation Report. Readsland, Dunshaughlin. Licences: 15E0125; 18R0174. Unpublished report, 2 vols archaeology plan