1993:135 - RATHMORE, Kildare

Rathmore House is situated in the small village of Rathmore, some 4 km south-east of Kill and 6.5 km east of Naas in Co. Kildare, and lies on the western slopes of the west Wicklow hills. Close to the house is the site of Rathmore Motte (SMR 20:9), a large flat-topped mound, in which was found a cist or stone-lined coffin. This cist contained an extended adult burial, orientated with the feet to the east in the Christian tradition. Elsewhere in the mound a number of other burials were discovered but this time under a circular setting of rounded stones. In the Middle Ages Rathmore was the headquarters of a Fitzgerald Manor and during this time it is likely that the mound was adapted and used as a motte castle.

The proposed extension to the house is to be constructed against the existing north-west facing facade and will cover an area measuring some 35m x 18m with drainage trenches running off, downslope, to the north-west. In all three trenches were examined, the first at the north-east end of the proposed extension, the second at the extreme south-west end and the third some 75m to the north-west, where the drainage trenches are to be located. All of the excavation was carried out with the aid of a mechanical digger.

The construction of the gravel yard at the rear of the house destroyed any evidence of archaeological remains in this area. No archaeology survived in Trench 2 but there was evidence for landscaping or land improvements which decreases the likelihood of significant archaeology surviving towards the south-east end of the proposed extension. Taken together, the evidence from Trenches 1 and 2 points to little or no archaeological remains surviving in the area to the north-west of the house. Finally, the results from Trench 3 strongly suggest that there is little chance of anything of archaeological note being uncovered during the construction of the drainage trenches.

Power House, Pigeon House Harbour, Dublin 4