County: Meath Site name: Site 8 (Field 3), Portan
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/a Licence number: 16E0117
Author: David Bayley, IAC Ltd
Site type: Single pit, scraper
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 704222m, N 741748m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.415550, -6.432197
Monitoring of topsoil stripping associated with the development of a data centre at Clonee, Co. Meath commenced in December 2015 and is currently (Septmeber 2017) ongoing. The site is situated c. 120m north of the village of Clonee in the townlands of Clonee, Portan and Gunnocks. The site comprised of 14 fields of pasture and 4 arable fields bound to the east by the River Pinkeen, which also forms the Meath-Dublin County boundary. Monitoring is being carried out under licence 15E0577, directed by David Bayley, in response to planning conditions attached to the development. Monitoring follows on from previous geophysical survey (licence 15R0005) and test-trenching with metal detection (licences 15E0109 and 15E0028).
Two burnt mound sites (Site 1 and 2) were identified as a result of these investigations which were subsequently excavated under licence 15E0583 by Paul Duffy in February and March 2016. A number of archaeological features have been identified during monitoring to date across the site for which separate licence numbers have been granted to undertake subsequent excavation.
Site 8 was identified in Field 3, Portan townland, during monitoring on 12 February 2016. It comprised a single pit measuring 0.95m x 0.9m x 0.15m located c. 100m west of the River Pinkeen. A flint scraper and a piece of debitage were retrieved from the surface of the feature. It was filled with a greyish-brown silty clay with moderate inclusions of charcoal and infrequent burnt bone fragments. Sites 17-19, 27 and 33 are located in the vicinity.
IAC Ltd, Unit G1, Network Enterprise Park, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow
