Press Release. Dept. of Environment,
1st. May 2007, 17:00.

Newly discovered National Monument
- on the route of the M3
- (Clonee to north of Kells motorway).

Dick Roche, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has received a report that archaeologists working on the route of the M3 motorway have found archaeological evidence of a national monument at Lismullin, Co. Meath.

The archaeologists were excavating known adjacent sites under the directions issued by the Minister for the archaeological works on the motorway scheme.

In the course of these excavations, additional archaeological features were discovered on the edge of the area of the excavations and, as required by the Minister's directions, the area being excavated was expanded. Two lines of stake holes (15 - 20 cm in diameter), have provided evidence for the existence in the expanded area in the past of a circular enclosure (80 m in diameter) with a smaller inner central enclosure (16 m in diameter). Two further rows of stake holes show evidence of an entrance and passageway from the outer enclosure to the inner enclosure. The monument has been heavily truncated by ploughing in the past and the surviving features are shallow and fragile.

The report received by the Minister was made to him under the relevant provisions of the National Monuments Acts. These require that where a National Monument is discovered during the carrying out of a road development, the matter shall be reported to the Minister.

Pending any directions by the Minister, no works which would interfere with the Monument may be carried out, except works urgently required to secure its preservation, carried out in accordance with measures specified by the Minister. In this instance, the archaeological team was authorised to continue to clean back the surface of the area, to complete a plan of the features and to check for associated features outside the enclosure. A small number of the stake holes are also to be excavated to try to recover sufficient material for radiocarbon dating. No further excavation of the enclosure will take place pending the decision of the Minister on any directions to issue in relation to the monument.

The National Monuments Acts provide that where the discovery of a National Monument has been reported to the Minister he must consult with the Director of the National Museum before issuing directions in the matter to the road authority.

The Minister has consulted with the Director of the Museum on the directions that would be most appropriate in this instance from the point of view of best archaeological practice.

Directions will issue as soon as possible after the Minister receives the Director's response. The Minister is advised that the surviving elements of the Monument are extremely fragile, underlining the need for an early decision on how to proceed.