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AR01055_EMAP_Gazetteer_of_Sites_4-2_10.pdf - The Heritage ...

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Meath<br />

Simonstown, Co. Meath<br />

Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure<br />

Grid reference: N857705 (28570/27050)<br />

SMR No: N/A<br />

Excavation Licence No: N/A<br />

Excavation duration/year: N/A<br />

Site director: E.P. Kelly (National Museum)<br />

A large early medieval enclosure was excavated at Simonstown and the site was a focus <strong>of</strong> a<br />

number <strong>of</strong> periods spanning the Neolithic until the early medieval period.<br />

<strong>The</strong> enclosure had a diameter <strong>of</strong> 75m. Within this was a small circular house that measured<br />

5m in diameter and an area where iron smelting occurred. A number <strong>of</strong> artefacts were<br />

retrieved including glass beads, fragments <strong>of</strong> jet bracelets and some iron knives.<br />

Earlier activity was represented by the foundations <strong>of</strong> a large sub-rectangular house that<br />

measured 10.5m by 6.25m. Its date was not determined but it predated the enclosure as did<br />

a number <strong>of</strong> Neolithic pits and hearths which were stratified under the enclosure’s bank.<br />

Contemporary activity was recorded in the neighbouring townland <strong>of</strong> Randalstown to the west<br />

including excavations <strong>of</strong> an ecclesiastical settlement at St Anne’s Chapel (Kelly 1975:033,<br />

1976) and two souterrains (Campbell 1985:044, 1986:065).<br />

(No plans were available for this site).<br />

References:<br />

Campbell, K. 1985:044. Randalstown, Co. Meath. www.excavations.ie.<br />

Campbell, K. 1986:065. Randalstown, Co. Meath. www.exacvations.ie.<br />

Kelly, E. P. 1975:033. Simonstown, Co. Meath. www.excavations.ie.<br />

Kelly, E. P. 1981. A short study <strong>of</strong> the botanical zones on a ringfort at Simonstown, Co Meath,<br />

used as an aid to the recovery <strong>of</strong> archaeological features, in D. Ó. Corráin (ed.) Irish<br />

Antiquity: Essays and Studies Presented to Pr<strong>of</strong>essor M.J. O'Kelly, 67–77. Dublin. Four Courts<br />

Press.<br />

589

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