County: Meath Site name: DOWDSTOWN/CASTLETOWN TARA/BALLINTER (Testing Area 15)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 04E0419
Author: Stephen J. Linnane, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Hearth, Burnt spread, Building, Ringfort - rath and Enclosure
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 689941m, N 761903m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.599257, -6.641164
An assessment was carried out in advance of the planned M3 Clonee–North of Kells PPP scheme, Co. Meath, on the Dunshaughlin–Navan section (Contract 2) between February and June 2004. This section of the scheme is c. 15.5km long from the townland of Roestown, north-west of Dunshaughlin, to the townland of Ardsallagh, south-west of Navan town. The EIS recommended testing any known or possible sites identified and Meath County Council further proposed to test the whole of the remainder of the route. For the purposes of testing, this section was divided into 26 testing areas. The assessment methodology generally consisted of mechanically excavating 2m-wide test-trenches along the centre-line and perpendicular to the centre-line to the edge of the land-take every 20m. The work was carried out on behalf of Meath County Council, the National Roads Design Office and the National Roads Authority.
Testing Area 15 is located in the townlands of Dowdstown, Castletown Tara and Ballinter between Chainages 32000 and 33600. Within this area 19,493m2 of the total 246,061m2 available was test-trenched, providing an assessment coverage of 7.9%.
The testing area was situated to the immediate south of the River Boyne crossing at Ballinter Bridge and extended to the south-east, where Dowdstown Bridge crossed the River Skane. At this point Testing Area 15 extended to west and east where county road L2201–29 was to be slightly rerouted and provided with the proposed Dowdstown Overbridge.
During the testing a series of features were noted as being archaeologically significant. These were given designated site names based on the townlands within which they were excavated.
A circular bowl hearth, Ballinter 1, was isolated and provided no material for dating.
Ballinter 2, a cluster of four burnt-stone spreads, appeared to be the remains of a ploughed-out fulacht fiadh, although no trough or other associated features were recognised within the test-trenches.
Dowdstown 1 comprised the foundations of a well-constructed building and a nearby roadway revealed during testing. Both features appear on the first- and second-edition OS maps. The walls of the building were constructed of coursed limestone, while the floor was of brick. The roadway was well constructed of small rounded cobbles and had a substantial stone-built drain running along its length.
Dowdstown 2 had been detected by the preceding geophysical survey and testing confirmed the nature of this complex site as a ringfort with additional annexes. The site seemed to have been occupied for a significant period and four phases of activity were noted. The primary phase consisted of a circular enclosure with a diameter of c. 40m, which was later enlarged by the excavation of a ditch containing an irregular annexe to the north and east of the primary enclosure. The greater part of the original ditch was enlarged at this time. Further phases of activity involved the construction of additional annexes, only now with rectilinear ditches. No finds allowed the dating of these features, but it is suggested that the site could date from the Early Christian period and may have remained in use into the medieval period.
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