2018:777 - Dunshaughlin, Meath

Monitoring of ground works was carried out between May and October 2018 during ground works for the construction of eight houses on this site which is located in a field to the south of the church (St. Secundinius’/St. Seachnall’s) (ME044-033002) that stands within the surviving traces (as expressed in the road pattern) of the monastic enclosure at the north end of the village. Testing of the site was carried out in May 2017.
The pre-existing sewerage trench, running north-south down the middle of the site, was exposed and a parallel new sewage pipe was inserted along its east side. The access road was reduced by approx. 0.5m; the shallow east-west trench, exposed in the northern end of the test trenches to the west of the sewerage trench, was also exposed at the northern end of the access road. It was 1.2m wide on top, 0.2m wide at the base and 1m deep from the top of the undisturbed sod layer; it became more shallow as it spread eastwards.
A north-south trench was exposed running close to and parallel with the line of the west walls of the houses. It was filled with loose stone and crumbly grey soil and may have represented the remains of a field fence, possibly associated with the erection of the 19th-century stone graveyard wall which forms the boundary of the development site in the north-west corner.
As ground reduction and excavation for the houses continued southwards, the same evidence for the gullies that were exposed during testing was apparent, but cleaning of these features did not yield any further information about them nor were any further artefacts recovered.
Excavation for a storm attenuation tank on the east side of the access road yielded evidence for the remains of an old field fence running south-west to north-east.
It was evident that the ground level at the south end of the site had been reduced at some time in the past.

Roestown Drumree Co. Meath