County: Meath Site name: Site B, Killeen Castle, Killeen
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 04E0969 ext.
Author: Christine Baker, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd, 27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.
Site type: Assessment
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 655484m, N 793364m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.532266, -6.585915
Located towards the northern limit of Killeen Demesne, Site B was identified during the original monitoring programme (Excavations 2005, No. 1196, 04E0969) as an extensive burial and habitation site dating from the early medieval period. The proposed development consisted of an extension to the 12th green of the golf-course that would impact directly upon the south-west limit of the site as previously recorded through geophysical survey. It was agreed after discussions with the National Monuments section of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government that the area could be archaeologically investigated in order to determine the veracity of the geophysical survey and to inform any further works.
Two trenches 2.1m in width were mechanically opened. The eastern trench measured 53.5m in length and was excavated to a depth of 0.5–0.75m. The western trench, located downslope and adjacent to the existing cart path, measured 85m in length and 0.2–0.9m in depth. A total of eleven features of archaeological origin including pits, ditches and a possible hearth were identified. While no diagnostic artefacts were recovered in the recording of the above, the location and nature of the features identified indicate an archaeological origin for the majority of features. It was decided not to proceed with the development.
