Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Roestown (ratoath By.)

Situated at the outer edge of a slight shelf in a fairly level landscape with a slight slope down SE-W-NW and a slight rise to the N. A small E-W canalised stream just to the S is one of the headwaters of the S-N River Skane. This area was first identified as a complex of archaeological features in a gradiometer survey (00R0064) by GSB Prospection (2001, 11-12) at Area 28/29 on the route of the proposed M3 motorway. Archaeological centre-line testing (04E0415) by J. Dempsey of Testing Area 1, Contract 2, prior to the construction of the motorway (excavations.ie: 2004:1336) confirmed the archaeological material, which was completely excavated (E003055) within the road-take by R. O’Hara as Roestown 2 between September 2005 and March 2007 (excavations.ie 2006:1634). It consists of two areas separated by the existing NNW-SSE N3 Navan to Dublin road, a triangular area (A) at NE where an area of almost 9000 square metres was opened, and a subrectangular area (B) at SW where about 12000 square meters were excavated. Each area was occupied by a sequence of early medieval enclosures that were in use from the mid-sixth century through to the eleventh century AD, with limited use into the thirteenth, but lithic artefacts characteristic of those from the Mesolithic to the Early Bronze Age occurred as residual material throughout. Three major early medieval phases were recognised that can be applied to Area B: Phase 1 (c. 530-650); Phase 2 (c. 710-960); Phase 3 (770-980) with Phases 4 and 5 extending into the High Middle Ages. In Area B, W of the existing road, Enclosure 1 is D-shaped (max. int. dims 76m N-S; 53m E-W) with the longest side at E, and about three quarters of the interior was excavated. It assumes this shape probably because the underlying bedrock dictated the location and direction of the defining U-shaped fosse (Wth of top 2.2m; Wth of base 1m; D c. 1.3m) which was complete with no uncut causeway. However, the original entrance was indicated by the stepped inner face of the fosse at NE where later causewayed entrances were established. There is no physical evidence of a bank, but 24 deposits can be related to the initial Phase 1 use of the fosse which produced copious amounts of bone, a sample of which provided a C14 date of 441-652 cal. AD (BETA 220115). Waterlogged conditions ensured the preservation of organic material including worked wood. The first re-cut of the ditch (Wth of top 2.5m; Wth of base 1.2m; D c. 1.2m) which constitutes the start of Phase 2 followed the same course, was both U-shaped and V-shaped in form, and 23 deposits can be assigned to it. Artefacts included waste from bone pin-making as well as motif trial-pieces, glass beads, a stone ingot-mould and metal objects including a spearhead and an iron knife. A causeway (Wth of top c. 2m) of dumped deposits with stones and a boulder facing was added at NE and a nearby post-hole could indicate an internal gate. There was plenty of animal bone, and a radiocarbon date of 690-946 cal. AD (BETA 220114) is returned for this phase from the articulated skeleton of a dog. A second major U-shaped re-cut (Wth of top c. 2.3m; D c. 1.4m) cleaned out all the fosse apart from the section (L 15m) around the entrance. About 36 layers can be attributed to this sub-phase of Phase 2, consisting of natural silts and dumped deposits with household waste. Recovered artefacts include iron knives, a fragment of a horseshoe and other iron objects. There were copper-alloy pin shafts and a belt-fitting. A stone spindle whorl, a whetstone and fragments of lignite bracelets were also recovered. Two wooden staves with notches for the base and lid were also retrieved, as was the articulated skeleton of another dog that yielded a C14 date of 725-976 cal. AD (BETA 220116). Single sherds of Leinster cooking ware and Merida ware at the top of the fosse indicate a final closing in the thirteenth century. A short section (L 12m) of an inner clay bank (Wth of base 2.4m; H 0.2m) survived at NW. Later shallow cuts following the inner edge of the fosse at NW (L 31; Wth 0.9m; D 0.4m) and SE (L 34m; Wth 0.5m; D 0.2m) are probably the last actions associated with the visible monument in Phase 4. (O’Hara 2009, 5-9) The interior may have been sub-divided from the outset as two trenches at the centre attest, although they are far too truncated by later features to produce a pattern. However, a large sub-rectangular area (int. dims c. 20m x 18m) was enclosed by substantial ditches (Wth 1.7-3.2m; D c. 1.4m), although most of this enclosure is outside the excavated area to the W. No entrance was apparent, but a drainage ditch extended NE from it. A sample from the base of the enclosing ditch yielded a C14 date of 889-1022 cal. AD (BETA 246965). Finds from the ditch included a dumb-bell shaped glass bead. Both the enclosing ditch and its drain were recut twice, and a sample from the first recut produced a radiocarbon date of 783-1018 cal. AD (BETA 246964), confirming a period of use in Phase 3 during the ninth to eleventh centuries. Artefacts recovered included a pierced copper-alloy belt-plate and a single-sided bone comb. (O’Hara 2009, 34-5) The SE corner of Enclosure 1 was also cordoned off during Phase 2 by a C-shaped ditch that was superseded by a larger version (Wth 0.6m; D 0.8m), which was itself replaced by another ditch (Wth 0.5m; D 0.4m) on the same general line. These ditches stopped short by c. 5m from the first iteration of the Enclosure 1 ditch, indicating the presence of an inner bank, but the final iteration of the C-shaped ditch extended to the re-cut rath ditch. Finds from the various versions of the C-shaped ditch included linked rings, an iron awl, iron pin-shafts, an iron latch, an iron loop and an iron knife. A rim-shred of an E1 jar is an import from Gaul. There was also a socketed iron blade and buckle fragments, and a complete copper-alloy ring-pin with a twisted spiral ring. Other interesting objects were a fragment of lignite and a piece of a crucible. The line of this C-shaped ditch was finally abandoned in Phase 3 but the SE angle of the enclosure continued to be fenced off as a smaller area (dims 15m N-S; 12m E-W) defined by an L-shaped ditch on a new trajectory, and a small fragment of amber was recovered from this. A kiln with C14 date of 573-688 cal. AD (BETA 246968) was within this small space but cannot be related trough stratigraphy with other features. (O’Hara 2009, 36-38; 2009a) See the attached images from GBS Prospection (2001, fig. A65) and O'Hara (2009 figs 7, 44, 45, 47, 48; pl 2) _1 Gradiometer data; _2 Site plan; _3 Phase 1; _4 Phase 2; _5 Phase 3; _6 Phases 4, 5; _7 Aerial view; Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 26 April, 2022 O’Hara, R. 2009 M3 Clonee - North of Kells, Contract 2 Dunshaughlin - Navan. Final Report on the Archaeological Excavation of Roestown 2, Co. Meath. Licence: E003055. Unpublished report, Archaeological Consultancy Services O’Hara, R. 2009a Early Medieval Settlement at Roestown 2. In Deevy, M. and Donald Murphy 2009 Places Along the Way, 57-82. NRA Scheme Monographs: 5.