What is recorded here

Two parallel ditches stretched 150 metres beside Bremore castle, marking a busy farm rather than a forgotten ruin. Wheat, barley and oats still cling to the soil memory, suggesting steady rotation and human patience across generations. The fields may have become orchards later, yet the original purpose remained clear: to feed the people who lived beneath the castle walls.

Pre-development investigations in 2001 identified part of a field system adjacent to Bremore castle (DU002-002002-). Two parallel ditches extending E-W (L 150m) and 50m apart formed the borders. Cultivation seems to have taken place in the enclosed plot and the field system may have extended across the present N1 road, joining to a lane known locally as Hamlet Lane which runs along the same E-W axis as the southern ditch (O'Carroll 2003, 79-80). Analysis of charred remains from the furrows yielded evidence for cereal grains, principally wheat, barley , oats and legumes. This suggests a pattern of intensive cultivation and crop rotation. Prior to the setting out of the field, the area was already used for cultivation. A shallow, flat-bottomed broad feature which produced Leinster Cooking Ware and 13th to 14th century local wares was interpreted as the remains of a manure heap. At a later stage in the 16th to early 17th century these fields may have been transformed into a parkland or orchard (O'Carroll 2009, 75-87). Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Date of upload: 26 August 2011

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