County: Kilkenny Site name: AR087, Danesfort
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A032/063; E3459
Author: Richard Jennings, Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, 120B Greenpark Road, Bray, Wicklow.
Site type: Prehistoric
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 653166m, N 648447m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.584706, -7.215443
This site was located within the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford road scheme along Contract 2, Phase 4, Knocktopher to Powerstown. Two hearths and two clay-lined pits with charcoal lenses were discovered in the vicinity of a 10m2 pond. The pond was 2m deep and although silted up was certainly open in prehistory as a small patch of burnt stone was discovered near its base. Four stake-holes were found near the clay-lined pits but their function is uncertain. The site is best understood when taking into account the series of pits filled with burnt-mound material found 40m to the north at site AR088 (see No. 907 below). Together these sites probably represent activities associated with a burnt-mound site.
A phase of probable post-medieval activity is recorded at the site in the form of an approximately linear field ditch (90m long) with a stone retaining wall cut into the lower part of its fill. The stone wall/ditch ran north-east/south-west and its construction might be linked to the infilling of the pond. It is not shown on the first-edition OS map but is of a similar construction and alignment to a nearby field boundary. The stone wall was made of limestone blocks up to 0.8m in length with no bonding material present. It survived up to three courses in places but was robbed out to the north-west.
