County: Louth Site name: DAWSONS DEMESNE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0200
Author: Matthew Seaver for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd.
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 697157m, N 790726m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.856895, -6.523141
A small site was discovered close to the motte at Dawsons Demesne and was excavated on 24 June 1999. It was patch of dark brown/black, silty clay, which contained frequent small lumps and flecks of charcoal and fragments of shattered stone (up to 30% of its content), measuring 0.5m north-south by 0.8m. The deposit contained a single sherd of poorly fired coarse pottery with a dark core and a light orange/brown exterior fabric. The deposit was found to fill an irregular-shaped shallow pit with gently sloping sides up to 0.08m deep. This cut a reddish-brown, sandy clay that contained frequent shattered and decayed stones such as mudstone and sandstone.
The deposit was natural in origin and probably derived from glacial processes. The sherd and a charcoal sample are currently being processed.
29–30 Duke Street, Athy, Co. Kildare
