County: Louth Site name: RICHARDSTOWN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0465
Author: Matthew Seaver for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd.
Site type: Burnt mound
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 701281m, N 791042m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.858945, -6.460372
This site was uncovered during monitoring of a drainage pipe close to the River Dee. It consisted of a substantial portion of a burnt mound of fire-cracked stone and charcoal-stained clay measuring 9.8m east-west by 11.5m. This underlay up to 0.6m of ploughsoils and silts that had probably resulted from flooding. The mound was up to 0.38m thick and had probably been considerably higher in the past but had been lowered through agricultural activity. The mound was cut to the south by a substantial east-west ditch that pre-dated the 19th century.
The burnt mound overlay a layer of grey marl that was cut by a subrectangular trough 2.4m long and 1.4m wide. It was lined with a charcoal layer that probably represented a burnt wooden lining. The base of the trough was cut by fourteen post-holes 0.08–0.1m wide and 0.1–0.19m deep. The post-holes mirrored each other on either side of the trough. The burnt stone overlay a thin layer of peat that contained some bone and charcoal. This in turn overlay natural gravels. No hearth was found during the excavations. Part of the mound remained unexcavated as it lay outside the land-take.
A range of samples was taken, including geological, wood and charcoal samples for species identification and radiocarbon dating. It is also hoped to calculate a minimum number of uses for the mound from the remains.
29–30 Duke Street, Athy, Co. Kildare
