Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Ring-ditch
Dunshaughlin, County Meath, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Dunshaughlin
- County
- Meath
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Latest-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Coordinates
- 53.50761, -6.52930
- SMR number
- ME044-065----
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1799 "Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
Located on a slight NW-SE ridge. A remote sensing survey (18R0012) identified numerous potential archaeological features (Nicholls 2018), and archaeological testing (18E0495) by L. Kavanagh (2018) confirmed the presence of three isolated pits, two burnt mounds together with a ring-ditch and nearby features (excavations.ie 2018:226). The features were subsequently excavated by M. Piera (2020) under the same licence (excavations.ie 2019:735).
The ring-ditch is a subcircular area (int. diam. 8m N-S; 7.4 E-W) defined by a wide ditch (Wth 1.8-2.5m; max. D 1.2m) that is separated by a berm (Wth 6-7m) from an outer fosse (max. Wth 1.5m; max. D 0.85m). There were no entrance causeways and there were no internal features (ext. diam. 28m N-S; 28.8m E-W), but the outer fosse was cut at two points by a NNE-SSW field bank (Wth 4-6m) just E of the inner fosse. The inner fosse had eight fills of silty clays, some of which with a large yellow clay subsoil element can be interpreted as slump. Most of the finds recovered, including the 90 sherds of pottery and two iron objects were from the upper fills, which also had higher proportions of cremated bone and charcoal especially at the SE. The outer ditch had five fills of clayey silts and produced 129 sherds of pottery. It became shallower around the E side, and most of the cremated bone recovered was from a layer in the SW part. (Piera 2020, 11-13)
See the attached plan from Piera (2020, fig. 8)
Compiled by: Michael Moore
Date of upload: 10 December 2021
References
Piera, M. 2020 Preliminary Excavation Report for The Willows, Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath. Licence: 18E0495. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy
Nicholls, J. 2018 Phases 1C, 1D, 2 &3, The Willows, Dublin Road, Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath. Licence: 18R0012. Unpublished report, Target Archaeological Geophysics (TAG1800IE2)
Kavanagh, L. and Tobin, M. 2018 Archaeological assessment at The Willows, Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath. Licence No. 18E0495. Unpublished excavation, IAC
Nearby in the register
- Kilnunder 1 mi
- Ring-ditchunder 1 mi
- Kilnunder 1 mi
- Burnt moundunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.