Moat — Castletown Kilberry

Located on a slight rise on a general S-facing slope with a small NW-SE stream c. 30m to the E. This is annotated as a ‘Moat’ in gothic lettering on the 1836 and 1908 editions of the OS 6-inch map, and it is depicted as a flat-topped mound with paths rising up its slopes in the 1820s (Beaufort 1828, Pl. VI). It retained this profile when it was recorded in 1968 (SMR file) with the addition of some trees. At that time it was described as a flat-topped mound (diam. of top 19m NNE-SSW; diam. of base 43m NNE-SSW; H 4.1m at S to 5m at N), and there was only slight evidence of a fosse SW-W-NNE. In 1986 the E half of the mound was removed without any archaeological involvement but the exposed N-S section was very revealing. At the bottom were some shallow pits covered by a thin layer of charcoal-flecked humus, and a sample of calcined bone from one of the pits provided a C14 date of 90-590 cal. AD (GrN -147646). A thick layer of redeposited subsoil over the humus raised the level by c. 2m, but a cavity in this at the N end is probably from a single large stone rather than a souterrain. This cavity is at the N end of the redeposited clay and marked the N edge of the platform (diam. 17m N-S plus). About 3m further N a bank (Wth of base c. 7m; H c. 2m) of mixed subsoil and stones was erected leaving a raised fosse (Wth of top 7m; D 2m) between it and the platform which was filled with a loose brown loam. An occupation layer with ash and charcoal was laid over the platform, and a post-hole at the N edge of the platform could indicate that it was enclosed by a palisade. In any case the occupation was extended by a cobbled surface over fill of the fosse. A C14 date of 1010-1260 Cal. AD (GrN – 14747) was returned from the occupation layers. The final development occurred when the S edge of the platform was truncated and the spoil added to the top, raising it into a motte-like mound. This occurred before 1827, probably when farm buildings were built c. 10m S of the final mound. Although the section was originally interpreted as a raised rath that was expanded over its outer fosse in a second phase of development (Moore 1988-9), the platform is more likely to be the central mound of a large developed barrow with ring-barrow affinities that had at least one outer bank and which can be dated to the end of the Early Iron Age. Towards the end of the first millennium AD the platform was used as a convenient ready-made settlement, which in a further stage was extended out over the original fosse of the barrow. Archaeological testing (19E0477) by J. Kyle c. 30m to the NW at the closest point produced evidence of what might be material from the levelling of the earthwork (excavations.ie 2019:623). See the attached images: _01 from Beaufurt (1822); _02 from 1968; _3 from Moore (1988-9) N at right The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 10 July 2007 Revised: 24 March 2023 Beaufort, L. C. 1828 An Essay upon the state of Architecture and Antiquities, previous to the landing of the Anglo-Normans in Ireland. Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, 15, 101-241. SMR file – Sites and Monuments Record files in the National Monuments Service, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage