County: Meath Site name: TESTING AREA 14, CASTLETOWN TARA
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 04E0431
Author: Paul Stevens, c/o Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd, 2 Boyne Business Park, Drogheda, Co. Louth.
Site type: No archaeological significance
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 690811m, N 761920m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.599259, -6.628022
Twenty-four test-trenches were excavated in Testing Area 14 in Castletown Tara townland for Contract 2 of the archaeological assessment of the proposed M3 Clonee-North of Kells motorway PPP scheme. The site is situated west of the existing N3 Nava-Dunshaughlin road, just south of the Garlow crossroads. The proposed development at this site is a 1080m-long stretch of dual carriageway, continuing east as Testing Area 13 and west as Testing Area 16 and straddling Testing Area 15.
Work was undertaken with the assistance of Ed Danaher on 9 April 2004. A total of 1431 linear metres or 2862m2 was excavated by mechanical excavator. This accounted for 8.8% of the testing area. The centre-line trench measured 311m in total length with twenty offset trenches. These were mainly excavated perpendicular to the centre-line and at 20m intervals across the full width of the road-take where possible. A trench was also excavated along the length of the river.
Nothing of archaeological significance was revealed in this assessment.
