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). A small D-shaped annexe (max. int. dims c. 40m N-S; c. 10m plus E-W) was attached to the W of the fosse of the large enclosure, although the junction of its three iterations with the large enclosure is preserved in the green area. The earliest and innermost ditch (L 22.5m; Wth 0.94m; D 0.33m), like the two others, was partly rock-cut at S and petered out at the N end. It was re-cut once and a chert arrowhead was recovered from one of the three fills of the re-cut. The annexe was extended slightly to the W with a second ditch (L 30m plus; Wth c. 1.25-2.2m; D c. 0.7-1.1m) that truncated much of the S end of the earlier ditch. It was re-cut thrice, and a copper alloy ring-pin that has parallels at Lagore crannog and in Viking Dublin and can be dated to the late ninth or early tenth century was retrieved from the fill of the second re-cut. The final re-cut was filled with soils that derived from the third annexe ditch (Wth 3.8m; D 1.63m) just to the W, although this third ditch only slightly truncates the N end of the middle ditch. At its S end the third ditch defines the N side of a likely entrance through the fosse of the large enclosure at SW, and its N end might also mark the S side of another entrance through the same fosse. The ditch was V-shaped and partly rock-cut in its W arc with steps in its sides, although it is U-shaped at the S end. The earliest silt fill had a complete inverted cow’s skull at one point. Pits were occasionally dug in the fill of the ditch, and a steep-sided oval fire-pit (dims 1.98m x 1.02m; D 036m) with oxidized sides was dug in the fill at one point and re-used twice. The ditch was re-cut along its length as a shallower feature and fragments of a bone comb, a stone gaming piece, an iron knife and an iron strike-a-light were recovered from its fill. A second and final re-cut was limited to the N end. The top layers of the ditch were cut by E-W furrows from which high medieval pottery was recovered. A metalled surface (Path 6), approaching from the S, is truncated by the final ditch of the W annexe, and its S end was cut by a slight curving ditch of the SW annexe. Some features were present within the latest extent of the W annexe. Chief amongst these was a cistern or water-hole that manifested as a deep, steep-sided, subcircular, flat-bottomed and partly rock-cut pit (dims 4.9m x 3.75m; D 1.87m) that was clay-lined at the bottom and had a step on its W side. A stone-lined channel (L 2.35m; Wth 0.9m; D 0.25m) extended W from the lip of the cistern and drained into it. The fills of the cistern were rich in clay and gravel with few impurities and some slump material. The cistern was re-cut once as a shallower funnel-shaped feature. (McGlade 2020, vol. 1, 208-223) See the attached images from McGlade (2020, P 208, 221) _1 Location: _2 Plan; Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 3 May 2022