2012:462 - Kilbrew, Meath

The landowners received planning permission to construct a dwelling house with associated site works along with horse stables, livery yard, sand arena, gallops, driveway etc. The site lies in the field to the east of ME038-010, 010001 and 032, an embanked enclosure, an 18th/19th-century house and a souterrain respectively. The house, which is ruinous, is located inside the embanked enclosure. Another embanked enclosure is situated on the north side of the public road (ME038-011) in Irishtown townland. These monuments form a complex that has been placed on the Register of Historic Monuments.
Meath County Council requested an archaeological assessment to include a geophysical survey and visual impact study as well as a desktop study, site inspection and test trenching.
The geophysical survey was carried out by Ian Elliot, Irish Geophysical and Archaeological Surveys. Results showed much anomalous disturbance in the north-west corner of the field in the area of the souterrain and a wider arc, possibly an enclosing feature around the souterrain, at the north end of the field. There was evidence for disturbance in the centre-east of the field. An arc, resembling a small portion of a ditch, was present at that point where the embanked enclosure would have extended into the development field. There were other circular and linear anomalies around the rest of the site.
Nineteen trenches tested the different elements of the development. Test trenches were not excavated in the north-west corner of the field, i.e. where the known remains of the souterrain are located.
The trenches located on the lower-lying part of the site along the east boundary yielded nothing of archaeological interest. The geophysical survey had produced evidence for very little activity here.
Trenches tested the footprint of the dwelling house. There was evidence for a short length of field drain in Trench 15 – this was the linear feature that showed up on the geophysical survey.
The trenches that tested the location of the percolation area showed that building rubble along with stony clay had been deposited to a depth of 2m, possibly to reclaim a disused quarry. This may have occurred prior to the 1830s. The dumping accounts for the massive anomalies that were indicated in this area in the geophysical survey.
A test trench located over the possible arc of the embanked enclosure that showed up in the geophysical survey revealed nothing of archaeological interest.
A trench which tested the line of the driveway exposed a possible pit and an area of reddened clay. This sector of the field showed magnetic disturbances in the geophysical survey possibly associated with the souterrain.

Roestown, Drumree, Co. Meath