2007:754 - Ballyvass, Kildare

This site was excavated as part of the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford scheme, Phase 3: Kilcullen to Carlow. This site was situated on flat agricultural land; a drainage ditch formed a field boundary to the immediate west and south. Testing by CRDS in 2006 revealed a burnt mound and a possible laneway, the latter being marked on the first-edition OS map. An area measuring c. 2000m2 was stripped of topsoil.
Excavation revealed two burnt mounds. The first was located to the south-west of the site; it measured 12m long by 9.5m wide and was 0.1m thick. Associated with Burnt Mound 1 were a trough, post-holes, stake-holes and six shallow pits. The trough measured 3.91m by 2.45m and was 0.39m deep. Modern drainage truncated most of these features.
The second burnt mound was located 15m south of Burnt Mound 1. This measured 16m long by 9m wide and had an average thickness of 0.2m. It was truncated by several agricultural drains and a large drainage ditch to the west. A total of four pits and one trough were identified under the burnt-mound material. A possible well was located 1.5m south of Burnt Mound 2. This measured 4.4m long by 3.55m wide and was 1.43m deep. It had a peat fill with charcoal and small stones; fragmented wooden planks were recovered from the base of the feature. The upper fills were truncated by a modern drain.
A cluster of ten stake-holes was located to the south-west corner of the site. They were randomly placed and did not appear to form a structure or windbreak. A possible laneway discovered during testing was positively identified as a stone drain and an earth-cut drain. Both were orientated east–west and were situated c. 0.2m from each other. Finds mostly came from the topsoil and included several flint flakes, ceramic clay-pipe stems and post-medieval pottery.