Field boundary in Baltrasna (ratoath By.)

Located towards the top of a gentle N-facing slope. Archaeological testing (03E1354) by S. Halliday in Area 17 of the N2 Finglas to Ashbourne road and bypass (excavations.ie 2003:1362) recorded two ditches of a field system that was further excavated by D. Fallon between January and March 2004 under the same licence (excavations.ie 2004: 1178). The two primary ditches ran N-S (L 19.8m plus; max. Wth 2.4m; max. D 0.9m) and WNW-ESE (L 50m plus; max. Wth 2.4m; max. D 1m), and would have met off the excavated area to the S. A sample of ash charcoal from the primary fill of the latter ditch yielded a C14 date of 1030-1220 cal. AD. Seed grains from the fills intimate the proximity of grain processing, and pottery from the ditches suggests a thirteenth century date as does a silver penny of Edwards I dating from 1280-83 that was recovered from the topsoil. (Fallon 2009, 34-7) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 17 December 2021