2006:1568 - GERNONSTOWN, Meath

On May 9 2006, a report was received by the National Monuments Service regarding damage to a monument in the townland of Gernonstown, Co. Meath. Although not included in the SMR, it was a mound that had archaeological potential. Prior to excavation, the site was seen as a flat-topped mound measuring c. 1m in height and c. 10m in diameter, surrounded by a possible ditch and bank. The setting is in a field of pasture on a south-facing slope overlooking a valley. A ring of stones c. 6m in diameter appeared set into the sod at the top of the mound. The Archaeological Survey of Ireland archaeologist’s report described it as a possible stepped barrow and gave it the SMR number ME019–076.

The damage to the monument consisted of several machine-cut chunks taken out of the north side of the mound. It was decided to clean up and plan the mound and to cut one test-trench across the line of the possible ditch to establish whether or not it was a ditch. This work with staff from the National Monuments Section took place over two days, 26–27 June 2006. The results showed that there was no ditch but that the stones set into the mound were at the top of a foundation of loose stones and decayed mortar. The cut was 0.9–1m wide and 0.18m deep. Several fragments of a late 18th-century glass bottle were found at the base of this foundation.

The site appears to be an 18th-century feature/folly set into a pre-existing mound. The foundation may have held a gazebo and functioned as a viewing platform over the valley below. The mound was reinstated by machine supervised by Pauline Gleeson in early July and the landowner has agreed to leave it undisturbed. There was no evidence to show that the mound was man-made and this question will have to wait until excavation into the mound can be undertaken in a research context.

Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dun Scéine, Harcourt Lane, Dublin 2