County: Westmeath Site name: KINNEGAD 3
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0927
Author: Deirdre Murphy, ACS Ltd.
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 659440m, N 745567m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.456810, -7.104996
Testing was carried out before construction of the proposed M4 Kinnegad–Enfield–Kilcock Motorway Scheme. A single feature was exposed in an offset trench excavated by Ian Russell in the proposed road corridor (No. 1876, Excavations 2002, 02E0108). This was a single oval pit exposed at 0.38m below the sod. It was designated Kinnegad 3. A large area around the feature was stripped of topsoil to establish whether the feature formed part of a larger archaeological site or was isolated. Excavation revealed that the pit was indeed isolated, and it was filled with oxidised clay and charcoal. The feature measured 1.2m east–west by 0.8m and had a maximum depth of 0.3m. It was filled with clay silt with frequent inclusions of charcoal and oxidised clay.
There was no evidence of associated features in this field, but it is possible that this feature represents the western limit of a prehistoric site in the adjacent field to the east (Kinnegad 2, No. 1878, Excavations 2002). There was insufficient charcoal in the fill to provide a radiocarbon date, and hence its association with Kinnegad 2 cannot be confirmed. It is highly unlikely that further features survive in this field, as previous testing failed to identify any other potential archaeology.
Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth
