2016:645 - Kells historic town, Meath, Meath

Monitoring and test trenching were carried out in the town of Kells, Co. Meath (ME017-044) under Ministerial Consent C533 (Excavation no. E004426 ext.) by Judith Carroll and Kenneth Wiggins between 6 and 14 July 2016 in conjunction with the Meath Watermains Rehabilitation - Phase 2. Judith Carroll & Company was commissioned by Ryan Hanley Engineers, Consulting Engineers for Meath County Council, and Irish Water to conduct monitoring of engineer’s test pits and slit trenches and carry out trial testing associated with this phase of the development.

Irish Water was proposing to upgrade the pipeline infrastructure in a number of urban, suburban and rural areas throughout the county of Meath. Trial trenches were opened in various locations around the town while engineer’s site investigation pits were monitored in the same areas. The test trenches and the SI pits revealed a small number of features which support the findings of earlier investigations. Testing and monitoring of engineer’s test pits and slit trenches took place with Ground Investigations Ireland this year. The results support the findings of the monitoring under consent carried out at Kells by this company in 2012 (Carroll 2012; report submitted to the National Monuments Service). Here it was found that a number of potential archaeological layers and features came to light: TP158 and TP159 produced material of archaeological significance at the intersection of Church Lane, Church Hill and Cross Carrick (or Cross Street) as did TP101 and TP162 at Fair Green which forms a circular line on the west side of St Columba’s House. TP202 and TP201A also produced indications of composite layers at the juncture of Market Street and Church Hill, as did TP203 (Carroll 2012, 22-23). Excavations by Melanie McQuade in 2011 under Ministerial Consent C464 (license E4375) in advance of a Bord Gais distributer pipe in Church Street, Kells, revealed medieval deposits c. 0.3m below the road surface (ibid).

This year (July 2016) testing and monitoring at Kells (ATT3-102 and ST5-015) has produced archaeological features and medieval pottery at Castle Street and Church Hill with the potential of archaeological remains in the Fair Green People’s Park area. This adds to the list of finds and features found in previous excavations in the town of Kells within the Zone of Archaeological Potential.

Reference:

Carroll, J. 2012. Monitoring for the Meath Countywide Water Conservation Scheme- phase 2. Licence no. 12E0096. Unpublished excavation report lodged with the National Monuments Service, Dept. of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Ballybrack Road, Glencullen, Dublin 18