2004:1229 - DUNBOYNE (Testing Area 3), Meath

An assessment of M3 Contract 1 (Clonee–Dunshaughlin), Testing Area 3, along the proposed route of the Dunboyne link road north (Chainage 0–900) was requested by Meath County Council. Located in the townland of Dunboyne, the area comprised three fields lying close to two cropmark enclosures. A geophysical survey suggested the area had limited potential to contain archaeological sites. The immediate area was formerly known as Kilbraynan and is suspected to be the location of an extensive Augustinian monastery levelled in the 19th century. Aerial photography identified two cropmark enclosures within this townland, while a 7th-century bronze-coated bell was unearthed along with a number of inhumations n the 1970s. The proposed road will pass between these two sites without impacting upon them, but it will also pass through an area of field drains identified during a geophysical survey of the area by I. Elliot of Bradford University. Elliot determined that these drains were coterminous with features noted on the Down Survey barony map of Dunboyne and suggested a late medieval or post-medieval date.

A total of 45 trenches were excavated through the area, with a combined length of 2973m (resulting in a total excavated area of 6392m2). Three small sherds of handmade pottery were recovered from ploughsoil. All were 4mm thick, with mottled reddish-brown fabric containing large mica or quartz inclusions. The field drains noted above were located in a number of trenches and were 1.2m wide by 0.5m deep. They contained largely homogenous deposits with no datable material. A possible enclosing field system surviving in modern field boundaries was observed through a cartographic review of the location. Further study is required, however, before such a phenomenon can be confirmed. The area was designated Dunboyne 4.

Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth