County: Offaly Site name: Moyally 2
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A016/044; E2672
Author: David Bayley, Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, 120B Greenpark Road, Bray, Co. Wicklow.
Site type: Furnaces
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 620954m, N 737571m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.387888, -7.685000
Testing was carried out as part of an archaeological mitigation programme associated with the N6 Kilbeggan to Athlone dual carriageway. The site was identified during testing undertaken by Fintan Walsh of IAC Ltd in August 2005 (A016/029). The site was excavated in February 2006. An excavation area measuring 15m by 15m was opened.
Two furnaces containing iron slag in all fills were discovered. The first furnace was an irregular sub-oval-shaped bowl furnace measuring 0.28m in length by 0.92m in width. The second, a double bowl furnace, was sub-oval in shape and measured 0.98m in length.
This work was funded by Westmeath County Council and the National Roads Authority.
Editor’s note: Although excavated during 2006, the report on this site arrived too late for inclusion in the bulletin of that year.
