1974:0019 - DÚN ÁILINNE (Knockaulin td), Kildare

Two months’ excavation was devoted to continued clearance of the main Iron Age ‘ceremonial’ structures, although a further stretch of (presumed) Neolithic trench was also uncovered. For the Iron Age structures there were few surprises- work was mainly exposure and clearance of remaining unexcavated sections of structures already largely known. But the elaborate entrance to the Iron Age phase 2 main structure was shown to be more complex than realised before. This entrance is flanked by two ‘antennae’ trenches, first clearly identified in 1972. This year the space between these trenches was extensively excavated (though not completely), and showed two rows of postholes forming an inner ‘avenue’. Within these rows again, there are indications of two short trenches, not yet excavated, that appear to form some even narrower entrance. This area has numerous other features, some apparently Neolithic, and has traces of relatively recent cultivation furrows overriding the prehistoric/protohistoric features. These furrows can be seen faintly in the aerial photograph (P1.20) published in O’Riordain’s “Antiquities of the Irish Countryside”, and can still be seen over extensive areas under low oblique sunlight.

A short report on the 1974 season’s work was published in Co. Kildare Arch. Soc. VX no. 4 (1974). It is expected that 1975 will be the final season of work at this site.