County: Meath Site name: KILLEEN: Killeen Castle (Site H)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: ME038-012 Licence number: 05E0415 EXT.
Author: Christine Baker, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Enclosure and Field system
Period/Dating: Early Medieval (AD 400-AD 1099)
ITM: E 693113m, N 755159m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.538120, -6.595262
Site H was one of six sites identified during geophysical survey (see No. 1199, Excavations 2005). It was characterised by a D-shaped enclosure and an associated field system, which were confirmed during test excavation. Most of the site was preserved in situ. Excavation was confined to an area of impact (40m north–south by 30m) that corresponded to the south-west of the survey area. The site is situated on relatively high ground along the 94m contour line. The portion of the site under excavation was situated downslope between the 89m and 92m contour lines.
The subsoil was yellow/brown in colour, allowing for the ready identification of eighteen features. The site has a distinct form, characterised by the western and southern enclosing ditches. The western ditch (F40) as identified on the geophysical survey extends south-west from its intersection with the D-shaped enclosure. However, excavation was confined to the area of impact that commenced c. 30m south-west of that intersection. Orientated north–south, F40 measured 41.8m in length and ranged from 2.1m (min.) to 3.9m in width. Deepest (1.4m) to the north of the site, the ditch became shallow (0.5m) as it extended downslope.
A concentrated area of activity focused on the north-east quadrant, encompassing an area of c. 8m north–south by 11m. It was defined by six pits that ranged in diameter from 0.5 to 2m and from 0.13 to 0.8m in depth, and associated drainage features. A significant area (30m by 20m in width) of the excavation was truncated by later quarry-type activity, which extended beyond the southern enclosing ditch.
The material assemblage for Site H was limited to a single flint flake, a curved piece of iron and two iron nails. Definitive dating will have to await radiocarbon analysis, but morphologically, D-shaped enclosures and their associated field systems have been dated to the early medieval period, although it appears probable that the excavated area of Site H pre-dates the D-shaped enclosure.
27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2
