Enclosure in Roestown (ratoath By.)

While the large enclosure, rath and burial ground are preserved under introduced soil in a green area all the available external area was excavated (15E0125) under the direction of S. McGlade in 2018-19 (excavations.ie 2019:474). East of the large rath, in the triangular area available for excavation, two circular or penannular structures and one rectangular feature were recorded in a N-S line with a small enclosure just to the NE. Structure 6 was a large subcircular area (diam. c. 22m) defined by a narrow curvilinear slot-trench (Wth c. 0.35m; D c. 0.2m), but it only survived SW-W-NE and petered out elsewhere where the subsoil over the bedrock did not survive. There were no postholes in the slot-trench which may have held wooden or wicker hurdles but there was a deep posthole (D c. 0.4m) with a flared opening in the interior which had a lightly metalled surface (dims 12m x 5.75m) around it from which post-medieval material was recovered. It is thought that the enclosure may have functioned as a paddock with one tethering post. (McGlade 2020, vol. 1, 74-77) See the attached illustration from McGlade (2020, P 75) True location: ITM (696066, 752895) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 3 May 2022