County: Westmeath Site name: DEMESNE OR MEARSPARKFARM (7.1)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A015/047
Author: Lydia Cagney, for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd.
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 634587m, N 734224m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.357100, -7.480430
Testing along one section of the planned N6 Athlone–Kinnegad, Co. Westmeath, was undertaken on behalf of Westmeath County Council and the National Roads Authority on 9 February 2005. A site consisting of an oval pit was identified during testing. The site was in an area of undulating terrain, currently in use as pasture. It was positioned on the edge of a wetland area at a height of c. 74m OD. This area was located c. 11m south-west of Demesne or Mearsparkfarm 7.2 (see No. 1541, Excavations 2005). It was positioned within the centre-line test-trench, while the latter was located in an adjacent transect.
This site consisted of an oval pit containing a moderate quantity of charcolic wood. It measured 1.3m on its longest axis, which was orientated north–south. No finds were associated with this area, therefore no date for this feature could be ascertained. It may, therefore, have represented an episode of burning or have been the location of a firespot. Its proximity to Demesne or Mearsparkfarm 7.2 may be indicative of association between these episodes of activity.
Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny
