Road — road/trackway in Ratoath

Located within the town of Ratoath, between the motte and bailey and the church. Archaeological monitoring (01E1173) by F. O’Carroll of the line of a sewer under the footpath (D c. 0.6-1.6m) adjacent to the extended graveyard (ME044-034017-) and on the line of a new road constructed in 1795 identified a number of features including a lane (excavations.ie 2001: 1042). It’s upper surface was encountered 0.9m below the modern surface and consists of a fairly uneven level (Wth 4m) of fairly regular stones (dims c. 0.1 x 0.1-0.15m) with gravel between the stones. The surface had been repaired at some time creating the uneven surface. Broken slate and animal bones had been walked into it and it was covered by a dark grey soil. The few artefacts recovered included pottery of a seventeenth century character. This overlay an earlier E-W laneway (Wth 2m), bounded by a stone-lined drain (Wth c. 0.5m; D 0.3m) at S and a line of boulders at N. The surface was even and was composed of smaller stones (dims c. 5cm x c. 5-10cm). Sherds of late medieval pottery and a knife blade were recovered from its surface, and post-medieval wares were recovered from the drain, which sloped down to the E. The medieval road is heading towards the church and the graveyard but not on the line of the present lane. It is preserved in situ. (O’Carroll 2002, 15-16) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 9 December 2021 O’Carroll, F. 2002 Archaeological monitoring at Kentstown Road, Ratoath, Co. Meath. Licence No. 01E1173. Unpublished report, CRDS