2008:1265 - RATHCONNELL, Westmeath

The excavation at Rathconnell, Mullingar, followed pre-development testing and assessment undertaken in November 2007 (Excavations 2007,  No. 1924, 07E0991). It was conducted in advance of the construction of a widened and re-aligned section of the N52. The site of the excavation is located some 200m to the south of the site of a medieval castle (WM019–4001), as well as a motte (WM019–4002) and church (WM019–41). The excavations revealed a relict field boundary consisting of ditch and bank, a ditch/gully and a corn-drying kiln with associated features.

The relict field boundary pre-dates any maps of the area and, when excavated, averaged 2.2m wide and 0.9m deep. It appears to continue for the entire width of the field and forms part of a more ancient field system defined by long narrow fields, each some 13m in maximum width.

The stone-lined corn-drying kiln was of an L- or comma-shaped type and measured 5m long by 2.5m wide. This kiln can be provisionally dated to the late first/early second millennium AD, based on excavated examples of comparable kilns. Charcoal recovered from the kiln should provide a more accurate date. A post-hole adjacent to the kiln and an arcuate trench further south may have been employed as a windbreak or screen to improve the efficiency of the kiln. A linear pit of unknown function was also discovered in the vicinity of the kiln.