County: Westmeath Site name: Simonstown, Rathconrath
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 23E0815
Author: Derek Gallagher, Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit Ltd
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 632488m, N 754677m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.541026, -7.509858
The site was archaeologically assessed on 17 October 2023. The assessment involved the excavation of four test trenches, each measuring 1.8m in width with a total of 86m of linear trenches excavated. The test trenches were excavated to the natural subsoil, which consisted of a light greyish-brown silty clay with slate stone outcrops, particularly in Trenches 3 and 4. Ordnance Survey maps of the area were examined in order to identify any possible archaeological features and to trace the
development of the site during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. No buildings are depicted within the site on either the first edition Ordnance Survey (OS) 6-inch map of 1837 or on the OS 25-inch map of 1912.
The site remains largely unchanged since the 1836 map, where it is depicted as a portion of an agricultural field. The west boundary of the site is a townland boundary with Kilpatrick townland while the north is depicted as a field boundary on all examined mapping. The nearest monument, a ringfort (WM018-055) located to the south, is indicated on all examined mapping with its extent on the east side of the townland boundary only.
A review of the available aerial photography for the area was also undertaken as part of this assessment. Aerial photographs dating between 1995 and 2013 from the Ordnance Survey of Ireland and Google Earth imagery dating between 2009 and 2022 were assessed. No archaeological features or deposits were identified within the excavated trenches. Consequently, no further archaeological work is recommended at this site.
Unit 21 Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth. A92 DH99.
