County: Westmeath Site name: CAPPANRUSH
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A001/035
Author: Liam Mckinstry, 9 Ballantyne Place, Steamboat Quay, Limerick, for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd.
Site type: Prehistoric burnt-stone spread
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 639045m, N 734836m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.362288, -7.413393
The excavations at Site 1, Cappanrush, were carried out in advance of the N6 Kilbeggan–Kinnegad road scheme. The site consisted of large spread of burnt-mound material that lay in a wetland area to the south of a small lake. The spread appeared to be subcircular in shape, although some of the spread continued under the CPO boundary to the north. The spread measured c. 7.4m by 3.8m and its maximum depth was 0.5–0.7m. It consisted of two main layers. The upper layer was a dark-grey/black silty peat that contained much burnt stone and charcoal. The lower layer was very similar in its make-up but was separated by a lens of peat. The mound material was situated over a possible trough or platform cut into the edge of what may have been the lake’s bank during the prehistoric period. It was unclear as to whether the cut was of a trough or of a platform, as it was situated right on the CPO boundary and the base of the cut was below the water table.
