County: Meath Site name: Old Cemetery, Nobber
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 12E340
Author: George Eogan
Site type: Church and graveyard
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 692371m, N 786415m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.819040, -6.597162
The purpose of the excavations, which took place during the last days of September 2012, was to examine two limited areas within the cemetery to check if any archaeological remains existed. Tidying up work by a local group approximately ten years ago revealed a number of pieces of sculpture (Heather King, RÃocht na Midhe 18 (2007), 39-66). These discoveries indicated that the site was a place of importance during the 10th century at a time that corresponded with the termination of occupation on the nearby crannog of Moynagh (John Bradley, JRSAI 121 (1991), 5-26). These and other investigations (cf. Geroge Eogan, JRSAI 120 (1990), 41-64) have demonstrated that Nobber was a significant area during the late first millennium times.
The areas of excavation were within the confines of the old cemetery and consisted of an external trench and two test pits within the former Church of Ireland church.
The purpose of the External Trench was to facilitate the laying of a pipe to provide a water supply from source to the church. This ran from the western boundary of the graveyard for a distance of 24m and was 0.5m wide and 0.5m deep. The stratification was straightforward and consisted of a 20mm-thick layer of humus above a deposit of material comprising clay mixed with gravel and small stones. No artefacts or any other form of dating came to light.
The Interior of the Church has a floor the central area of which is paved with rectangular concrete slabs. In order to test the stratification two cuttings, 1.5m by 2m were inserted, one near the eastern end, the other close to the western end. In both cases the stratification was consistent. Beneath the paving there was a homogeneous layer of rubble which consisted of a mixture of small stones and mortar, apparently derived from an earlier building. The fill was quite thin at the western end, 0.5m, but was thicker, 1.05m, at the eastern end.
No evidence for structures or artefacts were discovered in either cutting.
59 Brighton Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6
