County: Kilkenny Site name: RATHPATRICK
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 03E0523
Author: Emmet Stafford, Stafford McLoughlin Archaeology, for ADS Ltd.
Site type: Burnt mound
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 664296m, N 615356m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.286112, -7.057592
Testing was undertaken in May 2003 on behalf of Waterford County Council along the line of the proposed N25 Waterford Bypass. Four sites of archaeological potential were uncovered.
Site 1 was in a field which was under pasture at the time of the testing. The field, situated immediately east of the existing N25 road, occupied a moderately steep west-facing slope. The features uncovered consisted mainly of moderate quantities of decomposed stone with charcoal. A series of shallow subsoil-cut features was also uncovered to the north of the charcoal and stone spreads at the base of the west-facing slope. A linear feature was uncovered towards the crest of the west-facing slope at a distance of 70m from the possible features detailed above. None of the features uncovered contained any datable artefacts.
Site 2, a burnt mound, was uncovered towards the southern boundary of a field under pasture at the time of testing, towards the edge of an area of wetland. The field, which was situated immediately west of the N25, occupied a moderately steep west-facing slope. The mound, which was composed of heat-shattered stone in a charcoal-rich matrix, extended over an area of 25m by 22m. The corner of a subrectangular feature, which may have functioned as a trough, was uncovered 2m from the north-western edge of the mound. A number of subsoil-cut features were uncovered in the vicinity of the mound and throughout the field to its north.
Site 3 was uncovered in a field immediately west of the N25, occupying a gentle west-facing slope and under pasture at the time of the testing. Subsoil-cut features of possible archaeological significance were uncovered throughout the majority of this field. At the top of the field, adjacent to the N25, a series of possible post-holes and pits were uncovered. To the west of these, a series of possible pits were uncovered in various parts of the field and a series of roughly north–south-oriented ditches of unknown date were found towards the western end of the field, parallel to an area of wet ground.
Site 4 was uncovered in a field situated to the west of Site 3 across an area of wetland, occupying a gentle east-facing slope and under pasture at the time of the testing. Subsoil-cut features of possible archaeological significance were uncovered in the southern half of this field. They included several shallow bowl-like cuts and linear features of probable agricultural origin. A small cluster of probable post-holes was uncovered in one part of the field.
Unit 4, Enniscorthy Enterprise Centre, Milehouse Road, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford
