County: Wexford Site name: KERLOGUE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 01E0047
Author: Stuart Elder, Eachtra Archaeological Projects
Site type: Cremation pit, Enclosure, Pit and House - prehistoric
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 705127m, N 619151m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.313922, -6.458137
A consortium of seven clients was constructing a series of commercial units on a greenfield site in the townland of Kerlogue, c. 2.6km south of Wexford town. After an appeal by Dúchas to An Bord Pleanála, objecting to the lack of archaeological conditions imposed by Wexford County Council, the clients agreed to have the development monitored.
Topsoil-stripping revealed a number of features in Site 3 and three in Site 2. Of the latter features, one had the appearance of a cremation, because it was rich in charcoal and there were numerous burnt bone inclusions visible on the surface. Careful cleaning of the immediate vicinity by a mechanical excavator with a toothless bucket revealed a penannular ditch feature with an external diameter of 14.4m and an internal diameter of 13.8m. The ditch was 0.55–0.6m wide and had terminals measuring 0.45–0.5m in diameter, spaced 4.1m apart. This ‘entrance’ feature was on the eastern side. The cluster of features containing the possible cremation lay toward the centre of the ring-ditch, and initial cleaning yielded a single sherd of unglazed coarse earthenware and a small trefoil flint tool, thought to represent a corer bit as opposed to an arrowhead. The central cluster comprised a charcoal-rich feature, 0.8m in diameter, roughly centrally placed, with three associated features immediately adjacent, each c. 0.5m in diameter. Several other possible post-holes were evident within a 2m radius of the central cluster.
In Site 2/3 a number of features were revealed. These included two parallel boundary features, a linear feature, a group of three pits, a possible post-hole and a group of post-hole/pit-type features. The site contained a high concentration of charcoal and a large amount of unworked flint, including a small ‘pot lid’ flint. A single sherd of Leinster cooking ware was also found on the surface of the site.
Site 5 occupied the highest ground of the development area, and this prominent position above the surrounding land would have made an ideal settlement location. Fourteen subcircular features were found here, including two large oval pits, one with intense burning, a partial arc of four post-holes (possibly part of another house or a fence-line) and two sections of curvilinear ditch representing a possible round house with a diameter of c. 8.8m (House B), in addition to two linear ditch features.
The sites were excavated at a later date by Stafford McLoughlin Archaeology (No. 1915, Excavations 2002) and were the subject of an Archaeology Ireland article (vol. 16, no. 3, autumn 2002).
Unit 2F, Dungarvan Business Park, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford
