2021:510 - Blackhall Big, Dunboyne, Meath

Planning permission was granted for the construction of an equine complex and associated services and access at Blackhall Big, Dunboyne, Co. Meath, in the vicinity of the rath site ME050-008. An archaeological license was issue to undertake testing across the footprint of the buildings, associated services and percolation areas via eleven machine-dug test trenches, each 1.5m wide. The testing took place over two days between 21st and 25th May 2021.
The most significant result from the test trenching which took place on the western side of the site was the depth and compactness of the modern deposit of made ground, which ranged from 400mm at the north end of the area to over 2.2m at the extreme southern end. At the northern end of the area the material consisted of a mixture of concrete fragments, clay and stone, while at the southern end it consisted largely of redeposited topsoil. An examination of aerial photographs of the site taken in 2019 and again in 2020 show the area used as a storage for material excavated as a result of excavations elsewhere on the site. These mounds of spoil were subsequently dozed level in preparation for the current phase of works.
The use of the area as a dumping ground for excavated material inevitably would have caused significant ground disturbance in the area with the possibility of any archaeology which might have survived being disturbed. It should however be noted that the exposed surface of the underlying natural soils, the compacted loam clays, did not exhibit any certain evidence for significant disturbance. It is therefore considered that the lack of archaeological evidence from any of the trenches investigated in the area is a true reflection of the site, rather than a result of disturbance removing such evidence.
It was not possible to carry out detailed investigation of the southern area of the site, due to the excessive depth, over 2.2m, of modern overburden in this area. The contractor reported that this depth was a product of excavated material from elsewhere in the development being dumped and levelled here in 2020. Nonetheless evidence from elsewhere within the area under archaeological investigation would suggest that it was highly unlikely that any deposits of significance existed in this area.
The final area investigated was that to the east, in the area of the second percolation system. This area was an agricultural field prior to the testing, with the only features of note uncovered being related to modern agricultural drainage features.

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