County: Meath Site name: JOHNSTOWN (Site A)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0100
Author: Linda Clarke, ACS Ltd.
Site type: Habitation site and Burial ground
Period/Dating: Medieval (AD 400-AD 1600)
ITM: E 688869m, N 766281m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.406181, -6.832499
An assessment of this site was carried out before the construction of the M4 Kinnegad–Enfield–Kilcock Motorway Scheme, on behalf of Westmeath County Council, from 18 to 25 February 2002. This site was identified during an initial paper survey as an oval or subrectangular level area slightly higher than the land to the north and west and defined on the east by a low ridge, 3m wide and 30m long. It was known locally as a burial-ground normally used for unbaptised children. The site is known as Scaruppa (J. Daly, pers. comm.). Neither Mr Daly, the landowner, nor his family had any information on the origin or the meaning of this name.
A geophysical survey was carried out from 21 to 30 January 2002. This detected a large, double-ditched enclosure on the flat top of a low rise in the middle of the field. It also showed the position of several former field boundaries and the remains of heavy ploughing.
Four trenches were excavated, which confirmed the presence of the features identified in the geophysical survey. Trench 1 was excavated across the southern extent of the enclosure, which had an approximate diameter of 60m. The presence of cut features and the recovery of furnace bottom from the interior of the enclosure suggest that it was once used as a habitation site. The presence of burials within the enclosure was also confirmed. Three burials were identified, but the full extent of only one was exposed. This was a young female, and a preliminary examination suggests that it dates to before AD 1600.
A shallow ditch was also exposed, within Trench 2. The function of this feature remains unclear, but it appears from the geophysical results that it ran into the southern extent of the double-ditched enclosure. A shallow spread and two possible post-holes were exposed in Trench 3, which was south-east of the enclosure, confirming the presence of archaeology beyond the enclosure. Trench 4 was excavated across the existing bank, which also lay south-east of the double-ditched enclosure. A large ditch, identified by the geophysical survey, was exposed immediately north of the bank in this trench. A small amount of animal bone was recovered from this ditch, which was cut by a modern drain along its southern extent. The sod was also removed from the existing bank, the material of which comprised loose gravel and brown clay.
The enclosure, burials and associated archaeology were situated toward the centre of the proposed road. This site was archaeologically resolved under licence 02E0462 as Johnstown 1 from April to October 2002 (No. 1471, Excavations 2002).
Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth
