County: Westmeath Site name: TEMPLEORAN/JOHNSTOWN OR PIERCEFIELD
Sites and Monuments Record No.: WM011-126 Licence number: 11E0255; 11R0093
Author: Ross MacLeod
Site type: Ringfort ditch and human remains
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 636054m, N 758721m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.576930, -7.454785
Test excavation was undertaken at the site of a levelled ringfort, WM011-126, in the townlands of Templeoran/Johnstown or Piercefield on 11 July 2011 on behalf of Westmeath County Council. The work was required in advance of road improvements at the location associated with the L1811 Templeoran Road Improvement Scheme.
The proposed improvement scheme involves the removal of the existing âTâ junction on the L1811 its replacement with a more progressive traffic merging system which will improve the safety for traffic exiting left or right.
Four test trenches were excavated at the site, within the limits of the land made available. Archaeological material was identified in all trenches, including human remains and the probable enclosure ditch for the monument. This would indicate that, despite the monument having been levelled in the past, substantial subsurface remains associated with the ringfort site survive in situ.
The road improvement works as currently designed will require the removal of all archaeological material present at the site. Therefore full archaeological excavation of the 0.13ha site would be required in advance of any future construction phases of the scheme.
Rubicon Heritage Services Ltd, Unit 1, Wallingstown Business Park, Little Island, Cork
