County: Kildare Site name: KNOCKAULIN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0302
Author: Rosanne Meenan
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 682632m, N 708332m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.119131, -6.765544
The site is located on the east side of Knockaillinne hill and within the zone of archaeological amenity. There are four sites on Knockaillinne hill (3801, a hill fort; 3802, a holy well; 3803, a settlement site; and 3804, a possible standing stone). There are also three cropmark sites in the townland, all of them in the north-eastern quadrant of the zone marked for archaeological potential.
An archaeological assessment report was carried out by Byrne, Mullins & Associates in January 1999, following a request for ‘additional information’ by Kildare County Council after the planning application was submitted (for a new dwelling-house, driveway, septic tank and percolation area). Mr Byrne recommended that an archaeological clause be included as a condition of planning permission.
Six trenches tested the location of the dwelling-house and its associated works. The excavated material was a grey, friable, sandy clay with decayed stone. In the uppermost layers of Trench 1, two sherds of 19th/20th-century pottery were found. In Trench 2 there was evidence for redeposition of clay over the old sod layer, probably within the last ten years when nearby farm buildings were constructed. No features were observed in the trenches, and no finds were recovered, apart from the modern pottery in Trench 1.
Roestown, Drumree, Co. Meath
