County: Roscommon Site name: ROCKINGHAM DEMESNE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 11E0276
Author: Niall Brady
Site type: Post-medieval
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 584705m, N 804005m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.984930, -8.232488
Monitoring of two machine-excavated trenches in advance of the construction of a service building and associated ducts at Lough Key identified a sequence of building rubble above natural. The rubble forms two distinct strata, the upper of which is quite modern. In both cases the debris serves as fill material for modern landscaping works. No material of archaeological significance was observed. Excavation extended to a depth of between 0.8m and 1m. The upper level of rubble is modern builder’s debris. The lower level is also builder’s debris, but the association of red brick and stone fragments suggests that the material formed part of the building fabric of the Rockingham House complex before it was burned down in 1957. One trench retained a thin layer of blackened material at a depth of 0.9m, at the base of the lowermost rubble stratum, which may have represented an ash deposit associated with the destruction of the Rockingham complex. A sterile deposit of mottled sticky clay was observed at 0.95m below the surface, and this was deemed to be natural
The Archaeological Diving Company Ltd, Brehon House, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny.
