2005:1575 - MONGANSTOWN, Westmeath

Excavations were undertaken in advance of realignment of the N6, between Kinnegad and Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath, in 2004 (Excavations 2004, No. 1748, 04E0908). Two sites were excavated in Monganstown townland near the eastern end of the scheme: this site, Monganstown 1, and Monganstown 2 (see No. 1576 below, A001/002). Three areas were stripped of topsoil at Monganstown 1. The archaeological features were concentrated in Area 1, while Area 2 consisted of a number of lazy beds, and nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered in Area 3. Areas 2 and 3 will not be described further in this text.
In Area 1, two charcoal-production pits, six furnaces, six pits and two stake-holes were investigated. Both charcoal-production pits were subrectangular, with almost vertical sides and flat bases. They shared similar dimensions, being 3m in length, 1.2–1.3m in width and 0.25m in depth. The fill of one of these pits was composed entirely of charcoal pieces and there is no evidence to explain why this material was not utilised following its production. Of the six furnaces excavated, one was definitely identified as a shaft smelting furnace. It was circular in plan, 0.55m in diameter, and two pieces of the furnace shaft were recovered from the uppermost of its two fills. One of these pieces has a small round hole towards its base for the insertion of bellows. All of the furnaces were circular, with the exception of one, which was subrectangular, perhaps due to heavy truncation. The fills of the furnaces included large quantities of charcoal, pieces of slag and burnt clays. Six pits of unknown function were recorded near the furnaces. It is postulated that these were dug to extract clay for the manufacture of the furnace superstructures, with some of the pits later used as rubbish dumps for the waste from use of the furnaces. Some of the fills of these pits contained slag and charcoal, with evidence of deliberate backfilling and natural accumulations in others. The pits ranged in length from 4 to 0.8m and varied in depth from 0.67 to 0.16 m. The two stake-holes were positioned in opposite (north-eastern and south-western) corners of the site and they are likely to have been associated with the pits beside them.
It is obvious from the features excavated and materials retrieved that ironworking processes were undertaken at this site. The recovery of part of the shaft furnace in one of the pits illustrates that a sophisticated process of iron smelting, more than the ‘simpler’ bowl furnace, was utilised (Neil Fairburn pers. comm.).