2022:741 - 15-16 Haggard Street, Trim, Meath

An archaeological test excavation was carried out on behalf of Meath County Council as part of a pre-planning investigation for a four-unit residential development located at 15-16 Haggard Street, Trim, County Meath. The proposed development site was located within the zone of archaeological potential of the historic town of Trim. The site was previously subject to an archaeological assessment and test excavation (Duffy, 2008) under licence 08E0541. This investigation was limited to the western end of the development site but several features such as charcoal spreads and occupational debris, including medieval pottery, were found.
The test excavation identified two distinct layered deposits. The upper layer of up to 0.7m of disturbed subsoil was associated with the late 19th-century cottages, which were in use up until relatively recently. This subsoil contained a century of rubbish; plastic, brick, glass, stone and sherds of delph, brown and black wares etc. The second lower layer of between 0.4–0.7m consisted of a compact dark brown subsoil with fragments of clay pipe and traces of animal bone. This is clearly an older layer pre-dating the cottage when the site was an enclosed field, as recorded on the 1st Edition OS map c.1838. A number of features were identified beneath these deposits cut into the natural underlying clay. Several waste pits and linear gullies containing charcoal-flecked fills with animal bone and an area of in-situ burning were identified.
Based on the results of the 2008 and 2022 test excavations, medieval archaeological material is present on the site, defined by burgage plots with gullies, waste pits and occupational debris scattered across the area.

Ryegrass, Carrigeen North, Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow