What is recorded here

Flinty slabs and compacted earth formed a narrow chamber at the crest of a steep slope above the River Boyne, but heavy quarrying and later dumping erased most of its shape. The passage likely served a settlement that has vanished, leaving behind only a ghost in the hillside and a warning about how quickly human traces can disappear when development moves through the land.

Situated at the W edge of a fairly level landscape and at the crest of a steep SW-facing slope down (H c. 12m) to a SSE-NNW portion of the River Boyne. Two sections of Man-made underground passage passage c. 30m apart had been identified in the face of a sand and gravel quarry during a field inspection for an EIS in 1995. Archaeological testing (97E0322) by E. E. Sullivan in the wider development area (c. 7 ha) to the W and S failed to produce any related material (excavations.ie 1997:424), but the two Man-made underground passages (ME025-049001-; ME025-049002-) were investigated (98E0596) by C. Jones (1999) when two further portions of passage came to light c. 30m and c. 75m to the E (excavations.ie 1999:701) as well as evidence of a multi-phase settlement complex that was later investigated (07E0892) by J. Hession (excavations.ie 2007:1255). This Man-made underground passage (1) is in two portions. One is a short passage (L 2.1m NW-SE; Wth 0.94m; H 0.9m) which is truncated by the quarry face at N and whose side-walls consisted of upright slabs of slate with infilled spalls and horizontally laid thin slabs over the uprights to level up but no lintels survived. The entrance at SE must have been a drop entrance. About 6m to the W on the face of the quarry a chord (L 2m) of the wall of a beehive chamber survived to four courses. There were some deposits in the straight passage but no artefacts were recovered, and no habitation material or enclosing feature can be associated with it. This Man-made underground passage was backfilled after excavation but as the quarry area was used for dumping subsequently it was not identified in 2007 and its flimsy remains are probably no longer extant (Hession 2009, 26-7). (Jones 1999, 3-5) See the attached site plan (_01) from Hession (2009, fig. 10) and Man-made underground passage plan (_02) from Jones (1999, fig 4) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 30 March 2023 Jones, C. 1999 Archaeological Excavations of Man-made underground passages and Associated Features at the IDA Business Park, Athlumney, Navan. Licence: 98E0596. Unpublished report, Margaret Gowen & Co. Hession, J. 2009 Final Archaeological Report for the multiphase archaeological landscape preserved in situ at IDA Business and Technology Park, Dublin, Rd., Navan, Co. Meath. Licence: 07E0892. Unpublished report, Margaret Gowen & Co. Sullivan, E. E. 1998 Archaeological Test Excavation at Athlumney House, Kilcarn, Navan, Co. Meath. Licence: 97E0322. Unpublished report, Margaret Gowen & Co.

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