2001:1315 - RATHASPICK, Wexford

During monitoring (01E0250) of groundworks associated with the construction of a roundabout and road realignment by Wexford County Council at Rathaspick, archaeological features were identified on both sides of the existing road junction. On the southern side of the junction the archaeology was confined to two discrete features. Because levels were to be reduced to below the level of the natural on this side, there was a requirement for full excavation of those parts of the features to be affected by the development. On the northern side of the junction the distribution of archaeological material was far more concentrated and extended over the entire development area, taking the form of a series of interconnecting linear features.

A church and graveyard (SMR 42:10) are located immediately to the south-west of the existing road junction. The present church was constructed during the 1820s and replaced an earlier church which was demolished at the same time. References to the church date from the late 14th century (Moore 1996). The name Rathaspick derives from Ráth an Easpaig ‘the rath of the bishop’. A church at Rathaspick is mentioned in the Martyrology of Tallaght, which was compiled in the 9th/10th centuries (Culleton 1999, 157). Gwynn and Hadcock also list Rathaspick as being of Early Christian origin (1988, 451).

Excavation of the two features on the southern side of the junction revealed a broadly V-shaped cut which continued beneath the baulk on the south. It contained three fills, the central of which contained a large number of pottery sherds of medieval date, concentrated in one area. Only approximately 1.5m of this feature was uncovered and it was therefore impossible to determine whether it represented a pit or a ditch. This feature also produced a fragment of a perforated stone disc.

Also revealed was an irregularly V-sectioned feature which clearly represented a ditch and which again continued beneath the baulk on the south. This feature produced a blue glass bead and a few pottery sherds of medieval date.

Investigations on the northern side of the junction involved the insertion of a number of test-trenches across the various features. These trenches confirmed the archaeological nature of the material and indicated a medieval date, based on the frequent occurrence of medieval pottery within these deposits. Considering the distribution of features here it seems probable that this material extends beyond the areas revealed during testing. It is considered likely that the material on both sides of the junction represents parts of the same archaeological complex.

The overall picture presented here suggests an extensive archaeological complex of medieval date and it is probable that the area uncovered and tested represents only a keyhole perspective of a larger picture. This picture is suggested both by the manner in which the observed archaeological features appeared to extend in all directions beyond the area uncovered and also by local memory, which recalls the existence of extensive topographical anomalies in the area on the northern side of the existing road junction. One account describes earthworks extending into the adjacent field to the north, which were clearly visible from the tower of Rathaspick church.

It is impossible to interpret this site on the basis of the limited perspective obtained of it but it seems probable, given its location and medieval date, that it represents part of a moated site. Moated sites did not necessarily stand in isolation but were frequently associated with external water systems and fishponds lying outside the manorial moat; occasionally they formed the focal point of the medieval village.

References
Culleton, E. 1999 Celtic and Early Christian Wexford. Dublin.
Gwynn, A. and Hadcock, R.N. 1988 Medieval religious houses, Ireland. Dublin.
Moore, Michael J. (comp.) 1996 Archaeological inventory of County Waterford. Dublin.

31 Millford, Athgarvan, Co. Kildare