Field boundary

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated at the crest of the S-facing slope of a broad hill, c. 240m NW of the tower house (ME049-002----) and c. 220m N of the medieval excavated features (ME049-035----). Archaeological testing (06E1231) by A. Collins (2008, 18) in advance of the realignment of a N-S section of the R158 road identified archaeological deposits extending over a narrow strip (dims 100m N-S; 17m E-W) on the E side of the existing road that were subsequently excavated (07E0296) as Site 10 by E. Larsson (excavations.ie 2007:1313). Lithics of a Neolithic character and some pits of later prehistoric date are present, while two cereal-drying kilns were also recorded in this era. Two groups of burials, dating to the early medieval and the post-medieval periods were excavated as well as a N-W ditch that is probably an earlier iteration of the existing road bank and ditch. (Larsson 2009)

High medieval activity was represented by pits and stakeholes at various points across the excavated area. There were some linear ditches and two metalled surfaces, all suggesting the presence of medieval settlement in the vicinity, perhaps where the present Garadice settlement has been concentrated c. 200m to the N at a cross-roads. The metalled surfaces (dims 4m x 2m: 2.1m x 1.9m) were W of the major N-S drain (L c. 70m; Wth c. 2.2m; max. D 0.7m) that meanders on the E side of the present road and peters out at the S end of the excavated area. It was probably a drainage ditch for an earlier version of the road as the present road bank partly overlaid it. The road has been in place since the late eighteenth century at least as it is represented on Taylor and Skinner’s map of the roads of Ireland of 1783 (Andrews 1969, 91). The primary fills produced sherds of Leinster cooking ware and Dublin-type fine ware, but a fragment of a green glass bottle was also recovered although its contexts cannot be regarded as secure. The secondary fills included the articulated remains of a dog. (ibid. 43-4; 58-60)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 29 June 2021

References

Collins, A. 2008 Archaeological Testing Report. R158 Summerhill to Kilcock Road Realignment in County Meath. Licence: 06E1231. Unpublished report, CRDS

Larsson, E. 2009 R158 Realignment Scheme, Summerhill to Kilcock Road Improvement Scheme. Final Report Licence: 07E0296, Site 10 – Garadice, Co. Meath. Unpublished report, CRDS

Andrews, J.H. (ed.) 1969 Maps of the roads of Ireland. Shannon. Irish University Press.