County: Louth Site name: HARRISTOWN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 94E0185
Author: Donald Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services
Site type: Ringfort - rath
Period/Dating: Early Medieval (AD 400-AD 1099)
ITM: E 699429m, N 790514m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.854561, -6.488679
In 1993 during the excavation of foundation trenches for a house in Harristown, Ardee, several burials in stone-lined graves uncovered were examined by Fionnbarr Moore of the O.P.W. As a result of this discovery a rescue excavation was carried out on the site to the west, prior to the construction of a dwelling house. The excavation was carried out for the O.P.W. between November 23 and December 6, 1994 and was confined to the area that was to be disturbed by the proposed dwelling and associated works. Four cuttings were opened in areas shown to be archaeologically significant by a preliminary geophysical survey that was carried out on the site.
Cutting 1
Cutting 1 was a trench 10m x 2m at the west end of the proposed house. For the most part this consisted of ploughsoil which came directly down onto natural subsoil. One feature, however, was visible at the northern end of the trench. This had the appearance of a pit or the beginning of a ditch and sloped dramatically from the middle of the trench towards the west side. It reached a maximum depth of 1m and continued beyond the west side of the cutting. To the south-east of this feature a shallow pit was cut into the natural and was filled with stones.
Cutting 2
A second cutting 12m x 4m was opened at the east end of the proposed house. Over the entire south end of the cutting the natural boulder clay was encountered at an average depth of 0.4–0.5m with the exception of the south-east corner where a pit containing a large boulder but no other finds was exposed. In the northern end of the cutting a ditch running east-west across the site was exposed. It was cut directly into the natural boulder clay and was about 2.5m wide and reached a maximum depth of 1.5m. At least two time periods were represented in the ditch fill. Soon after the ditch was cut, material either slipped in or was deliberately put in which partly filled the ditch. This material was natural-derived and included stones and the occasional animal bone in its composition. The second fill was a dark brown organic layer containing a large amount of animal bone, cremated bone, iron slag and a few iron finds as well as two sherds of a cooking vessel of probable French origin (9th–12th centuries). This layer appears to represent the fill of a re-cut ditch and it reached a maximum depth of 1m and appears to be of early Christian date.
Cutting 3
A third cutting 5m x 2m, was opened in the south-east corner of the site. The ploughsoil in this cutting was shallow and the natural boulder clay was exposed at a depth of 0.3m. Some loose stones were found sitting on the boulder clay but it is unlikely that they represent an archaeological feature. The only finds were some sherds of post-medieval pottery in the ploughsoil above the stones. One iron fragment, possibly a nail or pin, was retrieved from amongst the stones themselves.
Cutting 4
A fourth cutting, 5.5m x 2m, was opened near the centre of the proposed house in order to pick up the line of the ditch. The ditch here also showed signs of having been re-cut. The sides of the ditch were lined with stones, the north side containing two large boulders and the south side containing a deliberate wall of stones alongside the face of the ditch. The re-cut ditch is not as substantial as the original ditch and does not have exactly the same terminus.
On present evidence it would appear that the ditch formed part of a larger enclosure, possibly a ringfort, which extends northwards. The house will be constructed just outside the south side of this enclosure and will not interfere with it. The break in the ditch in the north-west corner of the site between Cuttings 1 and 4 may indicate that this was the original entrance to the enclosure (i.e. in the south-west of the enclosure). Geophysical investigations carried out in the field across the road to the north of the present site revealed a ditch-like feature travelling from east to west. This feature may represent the northern extent of the enclosure at the brow of a natural hill. If this is the case the enclosure would have a diameter of 50m.
30 Laurence St., Drogheda, Co. Louth
