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

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

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Westmeath<br />

Rochfort Demesne, Co. Westmeath<br />

Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure<br />

Grid reference: N42774710 (242772/247101)<br />

SMR No: WM026-051<br />

Excavation Licence No: A006/003<br />

Excavation duration/year: 2005; 2006.<br />

Site directors: J. Channing (Valerie J. Keely Ltd.)<br />

<strong>The</strong> site was located on top <strong>of</strong> a hillock, near to Lough Ennell. It had been identified as a<br />

‘ringfort’ in the SMR, and was completely excavated in 2005 and 2006 due to future<br />

destruction by a road scheme.<br />

Excavation revealed that the site consisted <strong>of</strong> three concentric sub-circular ditches, with the<br />

truncated remains <strong>of</strong> two banks (Fig. 314). <strong>The</strong> inner ditch (width 2.4m and depth 1.55m)<br />

enclosed an area with an internal diameter <strong>of</strong> 38.9m. This proved to be the earliest enclosure<br />

on site. <strong>The</strong> outer ditch (maximum dimensions <strong>of</strong> 3.95m wide and 1.82m deep) enclosed an<br />

area with an internal diameter <strong>of</strong> 50m. This seems to have been constructed soon after the<br />

inner ditch. <strong>The</strong> third ditch cuts through the outer ditch, and would appear to have been dug<br />

in the eighteenth century.<br />

<strong>The</strong> interior <strong>of</strong> the site was damaged by later activity, and only a number <strong>of</strong> rubbish pits were<br />

identified within the area enclosed by the outer ditch. Artefactual remains from the site<br />

suggest a period <strong>of</strong> occupation stretching from the Iron Age through into the early medieval<br />

period. A swan-necked pin discovered in a pit near the entrance to the inner enclosure, has<br />

been identified with similar pins dated c. 500 B.C. – A.D. 400. A ‘Dublin-type’ ring-pin, found<br />

in the topsoil, has been dated to the tenth century A.D. Other finds included fragments <strong>of</strong><br />

bone combs, bone and metal needles, and a blue glass bead.<br />

Although there were no clear traces <strong>of</strong> structural remains, around 200 litres <strong>of</strong> butchered<br />

animal bone (largely sheep, cattle and pigs) were recovered from site. This led the excavator<br />

to suggest that the site may have been used for social/ritual feasting, rather than domestic<br />

occupation.<br />

714

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