County: Meath Site name: Curleyland and Mill Land/Ballyboy
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 13E0209
Author: Niall Roycroft
Site type: Testing
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 672715m, N 765446m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.633760, -6.900530
Testing in in advance of a 1km N51-R164 road realignment in the vicinity of the Hill of Ward, near Athboy, County Meath took place in November 2013. Two fields were tested with no access to the remaining small, central field.
One potential archaeological site was discovered in Curleyland and Mill Land. This site consisted of two possible unaccompanied human cremations 7m apart that are potentially of Bronze Age date, based on their visible characteristics. If the cremated remains are not human (i.e. animal) then they are probably modern. The cremated bone in both deposits was accompanied by large amounts of charcoal and this had been dragged around the cremations by modern plough action. No associated archaeological remains were found with or near the cremations, but the area was cut through by modern plough furrows and drains.
In Field 2 in Ballyboy townland there were no archaeological remains, but a pair of large, semi-circular, masonry gate piers forming part of the Ballyboy Demesne NIAH Garden ME-42-N-736662 are worthy of further record.
c/o National Roads Authority, St Martin’s House, Waterloo Road, Dublin 4.
