County: Kildare Site name: EASTON
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 01E0999
Author: Fiona Reilly, for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd.
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Post Medieval (AD 1600-AD 1750)
ITM: E 698106m, N 736142m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.366364, -6.525895
This site, Site 14 (3m by 2.2m), was found in Easton townland at chainage 1785 during the monitoring of topsoil-stripping of the Northern Link on the Celbridge Interchange. The scheme was approximately 4km in length and ran through gently undulating land with a mixture of arable, pasture and woodland from Celbridge to Leixlip. The southern part of the scheme runs through an area heavily influenced by 18th-century landscape design, with avenues, woodland and tree-lined field boundaries centred on the early 18th-century house at Castletown. The pit was first seen in section on the eastern side of the deeper, central area of the excavated carriageway, approximately 0.45m below present ground level.
An oval, stepped cut, with slightly concave sides, 1.9m in total length and 1.25m wide, cut the natural and was truncated on its western side by the track machine. It was 0.2m deep at its eastern end and 0.33m at its western. The base was distinctly stepped.
The cut was filled in the deeper, western end by a soft, mottled black and red charcoal deposit. This was sealed by a deposit with less charcoal but with fragments of animal bone. It covered the entire area of the cut but sloped downwards to the west. Over this was a friable dark brown sandy clay with frequent charcoal flecks and animal bone. It covered the entire cut and was the final fill.
Post-medieval pottery sherds, a nail and a gold ring were found in the topsoil.
Wood Road, Cratloekeel, Cratloe, Co. Clare
