County: Meath Site name: BALREASK
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 05E0077
Author: Red Tobin, RedArc Ltd, Archaeological Services, 35 Brook Meadow, Avoca, Co. Wicklow, for CRDS Ltd.
Site type: Burnt mounds
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 676812m, N 778423m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.749774, -6.835382
Balreask 1
The site was identified during testing as an area of concentrated burning and soil discoloration. A deposit of fire-shattered stone and charcoal suggested that the site might represent a burnt mound. There was also evidence of a pit containing wooden stakes near to the burnt mound. The site had been exposed to flooding at various occasions, leaving several alluvial deposits sealing the archaeology. Two distinctive features were located beneath the earliest phase of flooding. These were interpreted as being two trackways, one running north–south and one running east–west.
Balreask 3
The site was identified during testing as an area containing traces of concentrated burning and soil discoloration. A very thin deposit of charcoal-rich soil and fire-shattered stones suggested that the site might represent the remains of a burnt mound. Two cuts, which were located near to the material of the burnt mound, were interpreted as troughs. A large ditch, which probably serves as modern drainage, was also located on site.
