2004:1207 - CLONEE, Meath

Sixteen trenches were mechanically excavated on this large development site in October 2004. Evidence of a medieval field system consisting of ditches, drainage gullies and cultivation furrows and containing medieval pottery was uncovered on part of the site. These were subsequently excavated in December 2004.

The remains of a medieval sod-walled cottage and a small stone-walled rectangular stone building were uncovered. The small rectangular stone building lay adjacent to a possible kiln, but nothing was uncovered to indicate its original function. Two horse skulls were deliberately included in the sub-floor of the building - a good-luck charm that has been noted elsewhere in Ireland from the early medieval to post-medieval period. Two superimposed phases of medieval cultivation with fields containing regularly spaced cultivation furrows enclosed by ditches were also uncovered. A surprising quantity of high-quality medieval Dublin pottery was found.