House — Bronze Age in Drumroe

Phase 2 excavations by John Tierney of Eachtra Archaeological Projects under licence No. E3773 along 17.1km (Contact 1) of the 35km N7 Castletown to Nenagh (Derrinsallagh to Ballintotty) national road scheme were commissioned by Laois County Council and the National Roads Authority. Contract 1 comprises the western half of the scheme and runs from Clashnevin to Castelroan, passing along the Tipperary North and Offaly county border regions. Six areas of archaeology were uncovered during Contract 1 trial-trench testing. Drumroe 1, Area 6.4, was originally tested under licence E3376 (see No. 1661 below) in 2007. The excavated remains comprised a Bronze Age house, a group of pits, a number of medieval field boundaries (OF047-018----) and modern field boundaries. The area of excavation measured 35m north–south by 110m. The Bronze Age house was located at the eastern end of the site. Nine ditches and field boundaries were recorded in the area of the excavation. One of the boundaries was a possible medieval field boundary which measured 0.89–1.3m in width and 0.32–0.5m in depth. It was c. 50m long, extending beyond the area of the excavation to the west, and it was aligned east–west. An entrance was located roughly at the centre of the excavated portion of the ditch. This was c. 1m wide, located between two ditch terminals. The entrance between the two terminals did not follow a straight line but was staggered, and the pathway between the ditch terminals zigzagged slightly. This may have ensured that animals stayed inside the field or enclosure that was surrounded by this boundary. Most later field boundaries excavated at the site were aligned north–south. One of these, a 19th-century field boundary, was located at the eastern end of the site. A pit, a post-hole and a drain were cut into the base of this ditch (Bennett 2010, 401-02). Compiled by Caimin O'Brien Date of upload/revision