County: Meath Site name: RATH: Rath House
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 05E0715
Author: Lydia Cagney, for Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Early Medieval (AD 400-AD 1099)
ITM: E 705076m, N 754225m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.527466, -6.415179
Excavation was undertaken on the site of a proposed hotel in the townland of Rath, Ashbourne, Co. Meath, in July 2005. Earlier pre-development test-trenching (see No. 1232, Excavations 2005, 05E0481) revealed the presence of a number of archaeological features within the south-eastern corner of the site. Consequently an area measuring 60m by 20m was stripped of topsoil and all exposed features were resolved. The exposed features represented the remains of a series of large and a number of smaller pits. A fragment of a lignite bracelet was recovered from the base of one of the large pits, suggesting that it was early medieval in date.
A number of post-medieval features were also exposed. The first of these was a relict boundary ditch that was probably post-medieval in date. A stone-filled field drain was also exposed to the south-west of the main concentration of features on the site.
Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth
