County: Meath Site name: KILWARDEN (BGE 1a/47/1)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0868
Author: Redmond Tobin, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Metalworking site
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 662640m, N 746744m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.467023, -7.056587
Topsoil-stripping at Kilwarden, Clonard, revealed an isolated feature of exceptionally dense, charcoal-rich soil, with large quantities of iron slag and a bloom of smelted iron. The feature lay on flat, level ground adjacent to a west-facing slope leading onto boggy land to the north-west. During stripping, several areas of potential were identified and marked off for further examination.
Subsequent testing revised the initial interpretation, as many of the areas of potential were resolved into pockets of residual topsoil. The only definite feature was that associated with iron smelting, a shallow depression measuring 2.2m north–south by 0.85m. The plan was quite irregular, suggesting that this feature had no definite structure. The depression was quite shallow, never exceeding 0.14m deep. The fill was a homogeneous, loose, friable, black soil with dense charcoal and a great frequency of iron slag inclusions.
The depression was a natural feature that was used for industrial activity being carried out adjacent to this location. The identity of this site was defined by the charcoal and slag fill and not by the structure of the depression. The absence of heavy oxidisation in the depression or in its immediate vicinity emphasised that this feature was not associated with any form of direct heat. This evidence suggests that this feature represents a secondary process associated with iron smelting.
In the direct process of iron smelting, after a successful smelt, the bloom is removed from the remains of the furnace and taken to a forge. The forge may relate to an area adjacent to the furnace site and not necessarily to a structure. The bloom is taken from the bloomery furnace, encased in a hard crust of iron slag. At the forge site the bloom is beaten with a hammer to remove the slag while also consolidating and refining the spongy iron into wrought iron. The by-products of this process are slag and charcoal-rich material from the furnace.
The evidence from this site supports the interpretation of the feature as a forge associated with a smelting furnace, which must be situated nearby but lies beyond the boundaries of the pipeline corridor.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
