County: Meath Site name: Gormanstown
Sites and Monuments Record No.: - Licence number: 06E0196
Author: John O’Connor, ADS Ltd, Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Dublin 3.
Site type: Drying kiln
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 715674m, N 767779m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.646989, -6.250393
Topsoil-stripping in advance of the south–north gas pipeline connecting Ballyalbanagh, Co. Antrim, to Gormanstown, Co. Meath, revealed a possible corn-drying kiln and associated features, including a possible storage structure and work surface. Two ditches, which were possibly part of a contemporary field-system, were also excavated.
The keyhole-shaped stone-lined corn-drying kiln consisted of a bowl c. 1.6m in diameter with a flue extending c. 1.2m to the south-east. Interestingly, the kiln had been orientated in the opposite direction before being dismantled and rebuilt in its current position. The work and storage areas were located immediately to the south-east of the kiln. These survived as a number of linear gullys and post-holes as well as a stone area c. 3.1m north-west/south-east by 2.2m.
The kiln and work areas were located in a corner of a field system created by two ditches, the first of which was 22m north-west/south-east by c. 1.6m wide. This was located to the west of the kiln and extended beyond the limits of the excavation. The other ditch intersected first at its south-west end and extended c. 24m to the north-east before petering out. More features, including the base of a stone wall and numerous post-holes, were located to the south-east of this ditch.
One curious find was the complete skeleton of a dog placed on its right side with its head to the west and paws together. The skeleton was buried in a shallow rectangular cut close to the kiln. A large stone slab was then placed on top of the skeleton.
