2004:1743 - KILBEGGAN SOUTH 1.2, Westmeath

The site was identified during testing on the N6 Kinnegad-Kilbeggan dual carriageway (04E0579, No. 1246 above) 64m west of Chainage 1110 on the N52 (South) realignment. It was located close to two small areas of burning, Kilbeggan South 1.1 and 1.3 (No. 1787 below), which were resolved during the testing phase of the project. The area of 203m2 around the features identified during testing was mechanically stripped and this exposed a large rectangular pit (southern brick-firing pit) and a smaller rectangular pit (northern brick-firing pit). In addition, a new feature (curvilinear) was exposed connected to the southern pit by a narrow flue.

The southern brick-firing pit was a rectangular cut, 2.32m long, 1.56m wide and 0.34m deep. The base was unevenly flat and had an imperceptible break of slope. There was evidence of in situ burning along the northern and eastern edges of the cut and a shallow flue-like cut connecting the pit with the curvilinear feature. This pit is located directly to the north of the northern brick-firing pit, but the relationship between the two was obscured during testing. The basal fill was a grey/black clayey silt with charcoal and some sand and brick fragments, overlain by further, similar deposits. The upper fills were of red/grey sandy clay with frequent brick fragments and a dark-grey sandy clay that also formed the upper fills of the curvilinear feature.

The northern brick-firing pit was 2.75m long, 1.25m wide and 0.12m deep and abutted the larger southern brick-firing pit. It was square at the southern end and straight and linear at the northern end. There was evidence of in situ burning on the base and sides at a flue-like area within the cut. The primary fill was a brown/grey clayey silt with moderate amounts of brick fragments and charcoal. The upper fill was a brown/orange clayey silt with occasional brick fragments and charcoal.

A curvilinear cut 7.4m long, 1.09m wide and 0.2m deep was connected to the southern brick-firing pit by a flue-like cut located at the south-western edge. The basal fill was present only in the western part of the cut and was a grey/black silty clay with occasional stones and burnt bone and frequent amounts of charcoal. The upper fills were the same as those in the southern brick-firing pit and contained frequent charcoal and brick fragments with a natural chert nodule.

During the centre-line testing in the fields to the south, abundant evidence of brick production was uncovered. This consisted of a possible clay-extraction pit, fragments of brick in the topsoil over a very large area, mounds of brick waste and cartographic evidence. The site appears to fit within this local industry and probably post-dates the construction of the canal to Kilbeggan. No artefacts were recovered and, given the late date of the features, no samples will be submitted for radiocarbon dating. Samples of the brick fragments have been selected for further analysis.