Souterrain in Roestown (ratoath By.)

A souterrain was built at the centre of Enclosure 1 in Area B during Phase 2 but it is E of the internal rectangular enclosure attached to the ditch of Enclosure 1 at W, suggesting a degree of contemporaneity. It consisted of three beehive chambers connected by three short passages and it was constructed from locally derived limestone. The tops of the chambers and most of the lintels of the passages had been removed in antiquity, and the heights given are surviving heights. At no point does it appear to have been rock-cut. Only nine lintels remained in situ. The bases of the walls consist of large boulders (dims c. 0.44m x c. 0.33m x c. 0.2m) with smaller stones above as the walls rise, and the bases of the walls were sometimes not dug as deep as the floors of the chambers, each of which had a pit in its floor, perhaps used as water-sumps. The entrance is a step down (D 0.6m), from where the passage (L 4.25m; Wth of base 0.89m; Wth of top 0.75m; max. H 1.4m at S) extended S and downwards to its lowest point. A small cupboard in the E wall was close to the ground near the entrance. From its lowest point the passage rises and narrows (Wth 0.62m) to meet an E-W passage (L c. 5m) towards the latter’s E end. As the entrance passage rises there is a stone shelf (L 0.85m; Wth 0.16m; max. H 0.74m) on either side protruding from the sidewalls, probably intended to constrict the passage and create a step up to the junction with the E-W passage. Just E of this junction, at the E end of the E-W passage, is a beehive chamber (diam. 1.8m N-S; 1.6m E-W; H 1.3m) with corbelling starting 0.7m above the floor. A pit (dims 0.6m x 0.5m; D 0.45m) was cut in the floor against the wall at NE. The entrance (Wth 0.55m; H 1m) was intact with the vertical jambs and the lintel in place. From the entrance to this chamber the middle passage extended W (L 2.6m) past the junction with the entrance passage as far as a step down (H 0.5m) that increases the passage height (c. 1.5m) immediately beyond that point. The passage continues W (L c. 3m) and the floor rises to the junction with the final N-S passage (L 6.7m; Wth of base 0.82-0.95m; max. H 1.28m) which is at its widest (Wth 1.7m) at this point. This passage connects a subcircular beehive chamber at N (dims of base 2.9m E-W; 2.45m N-S; H 1.3m) to a circular one at S (diam. of base 3m E-W; 2.9m N-S; H 1.39m). Both chambers are sunk below the level of the connecting passage, the floor in the chamber at S being c. 0.8m lower than that at N, with the passage floor bulging upwards between them. The entrances to both chambers have jambs marked by vertically set stones, and both chambers have pits dug in the floor, a small feature (diam. 0.3m; D 0.25m) in the N chamber and a larger one (diam. 0.4-0.5m; D 0.2m) against the wall at SSW in the S chamber. In the S chamber, at the point where corbelling begins (H 0.5m), an air vent extends off to the SW (L 0.5m). The primary deposits over the beaten earth floors in the chambers consist of occupation debris with animal bones. This deposit was particularly marked in the entrance passage (D 0.2m) and on the floor of the first beehive chamber. A stud-headed stick-pin that can be dated to the eleventh century was in this deposit in the entrance passage and can probably date the closure of the souterrain. Fragments of iron objects and a perforated piece of slate were also recovered from the entrance passage as was a human cranium. The habitation deposits are beneath the deliberate backfill of the souterrain, consisting of stones from the upper levels of the walls, lintels from the passages and deposits from the surface. (O’Hara 2009, 24-9; 2009) True location: ITM (695670, 753823) See the attached images from O'Hara (2009, figs 2, 18, 45, 47. pl. 2) _2 Site plan; _4 Phase 2; _5 Phase 3; _7 Aerial view; 075007-_1 Plan; 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. 2009 Early Medieval Settlement at Roestown 2. In Deevy, M. and Donald Murphy 2009 Places Along the Way, 57-82. NRA Scheme Monographs: 5.