2004:1122 - RAMPARK, Louth

Following the discovery of burials during the excavation of foundations for a house at Rampark, in the village of Lordship, a salvage excavation was undertaken on behalf of the National Monuments Section, DOEHLG. The site is part of a small development of single houses occupying two fields on the coastal plain between the Dundalk-Greenore road and Dundalk Bay. Some weeks into the excavation, it was discovered that the field with the burials, now called the 'Prize Field' because of its fertile soil, had the older name of Páirc na Reilige. The excavation commenced on 8 November 2004 and continued into 2005.

Area 1
Within the 18m by 9.5m area of the house, the work concentrated on the burials already exposed in the foundation trenches, with only limited excavation into virgin ground to recover the full extent of certain graves. Seven substantial lintel graves, excavated up to 0.8m into the subsoil, were recorded. At least three had been reopened for secondary interments. A further six probable lintel graves visible in section faces were left in situ. In one grave, four quartz pebbles were found among the bones, with more recovered from the backfill over the lintels. Ten metres from the lintel graves a crouched female inhumation and a badly truncated extended inhumation were found in close proximity to habitation deposits containing souterrain ware. Osteoarchaeologist Laureen Buckley provided on-site expertise.

Investigation of a group of boulders exposed by the topsoil-stripping on the driveway into the house led to the discovery of a two-level souterrain consisting of an upper passage (L. 4.5m) and lower passage (L. 8m) linked by a trapdoor. Both passages were served by air-vents. The roof had evidently collapsed or been removed in ancient times at the point of recent access. A large quantity of souterrain ware and animal bone was found on the passage floor below the break in the roof. The backfilled passage heading towards the original entrance was not investigated.

Area 2
Monitoring of the 25m by 9.5m percolation area west of the house revealed a second group of Early Christian burials, comprising one adult and nine juveniles in simple pit graves, the latter surviving only as arcs of teeth and small hollows where the skulls had rested. In the same area were three Bronze Age cremation burials, two in pits and one in an undecorated urn. The urn was removed in a soil block by National Museum conservation staff. One of the cremation pits was within a miniature ring-ditch, 0.25m wide, with an overall diameter of 1.3m, which also contained cremated bone. Other features included pits, a small iron-smelting(?) furnace and a kiln of uncertain use.

Area 3
Monitoring and limited excavation took place on the 20m by 23.5m percolation area of the adjoining property to the north, where the house had already been built. A slightly curved ditch, revetted on one side with large boulders, ran east-west along the north edge of the area. Other features included numerous pits and deposits, with animal bone and souterrain ware, and a length of unroofed souterrain with an air-vent.

6 St Ultan's, Laytown, Drogheda