1988:17 - GRACEDIEU, Dublin

Several excavations were carried out between May and October 1988, ahead of the construction of the North-eastern Pipeline, Phase 2, running from Abbotstown to Dundalk.

Gracedieu is situated some two miles west of the Swords-Lusk road (TI), on the road to Ballyboughal. It lies in low-lying, gently undulating ground just below 100ft O.D.

The pipeline corridor runs some 60m to the west of the standing remains of a 13th-century nunnery at Gracedieu and crosses the line as a millrace running eastwards past the nunnery to the south. The documentary records suggest that the nunnery was an establishment of considerable size both prior to and after dissolution. Thus it was felt that related structural and archaeological features might be present on the pipeline route and a decision was made to carry out exploratory excavation in the area closest to the standing remains.

During five weeks of excavation a 100m length of the pipeline corridor to the west of the nunnery was investigated in long narrow trial cuttings. Three parallel north south trenches 30m x 1.5m and 10m apart were opened in two 30m x 30m blocks at the north and south of the site and, in between these two blocks, two east-west 30m x 1.5m trenches were opened. In this way, the only features that can be missed are those less than 8.5m in diameter or size. Many small extensions to the basic grid of cuttings were made, where necessary, to expose the limits of features revealed in the main trenches. No further features were revealed.

The pipeline corridor crosses a gentle south-facing slope on relatively low ground to the west of the standing nunnery remains which are situated on the flat summit of a rise in ground to the east of the area excavated.

No medieval ecclesiastical structures were revealed in any of the cuttings opened, but several cobbled surfaces of differing dates were found along with evidence for three structures.

At the north-east of the site two substantial, parallel earth-bonded walls c.3m apart were located in the eastern and central cuttings. These were over 1m wide, survived a maximum two courses high and were built directly on the surface of the most extensive and apparently earliest cobbled surface which had maximum dimensions of at least 17m east/west and 30m north/south. The western limits of the cobbles and walls were destroyed by cultivation just 1m to the west of the centrally placed north/south cutting. Neither eastern limits were traced. Two extensions to the easternmost cutting showed that both the cobbled surface and the two walls extended at least 5m outside the limits of the pipeline corridor so their full length was not ascertained.

An interpretation of these features is not easily reached. The cobbled surface varied considerably in the size of its stones and the regularity of its surface and it dipped markedly to the centre. The deepest portion, between the two parallel walls, was filled with an apparently 17th-century dump deposit which contained fragments of stone mortar building rubble, and slate roof tiles, covered by a deposit of highly organic soil containing animal bone, oyster and other shells, 17th-century pottery and numerous wine bottle fragments. A number of fragments of medieval ridge tiles were found with both deposits. These would appear to represent the 17th-century demolition of a medieval building close by and the subsequent use of the depression on top of the rubble for dumping, in order to level-up the lowermost part of the cobbled area.

Given that the two parallel walls described above are claybonded and that they are built directly on the cobbles, it seems unlikely that they represent the remains of a very large medieval building (internal dimensions minimum 13m x 17m in the area investigated) and it is not clear whether the demolition deposit represents the destruction of this structure since the dumped rubble contains a lot of mortar. While the possibility that the walls might represent a cloister area was considered during excavation there was no archaeological evidence to support this. Further excavation to the west of the pipeline corridor towards the standing remains of 13th-century structures would be required to examine this problem further.

Three stone drains were cut into the cobbled surface, one running north/south in the area between the two parallel walls and two located to the north of the structure.

In the north-west corner of the site the remains of the side walls of a possibly post-medieval house/farm building were revealed. Two poorly preserved parallel walls were found lying on the northwest portion of the cobbled surface described above, the northern limit of which is ploughed out at this point. Only a small portion of the basal course of the two walls survived, along with a portion of an internal mortar floor, 7.3m long into which gravel and numerous small fragments of red-brick were incorporated. The structure had an internal width of 4m, the walls being c.0.7m wide. The length of the building was not ascertained as the end walls had not survived due to cultivation.

Running north/south through the western limit of the entire length of the area investigated was another cobbled surface, likely to represent a laneway at least 6m wide, bounded by a well built lintel drain at the east, and further east a 4.5 wide, 2m deep ditch which fed into the millrace at the south of the site. The ditch was largely filled with masonry and mortar rubble in all the cuttings opened. The presence of this laneway was curious as the present lane which runs north/south, to the west of the one revealed during excavation, has always been considered the main medieval road to Swords from Gracedieu.

At the east and south east of the site fragments of features were revealed. Cobbling was located in the two east/west cuttings of the central 30m block but it did not relate to either of the surfaces described above. The limits of this deposit were destroyed by cultivation.

At the south-east of the site two cuttings were opened to investigate the millrace and adjacent areas. The millrace was found to have been faced with a strong mortar-bonded wall but there were the remains of a substantial wall to the north of the millrace which may have served some related structural purpose. Traces of further wall trenches were located and followed but excavation did not facilitate an interpretation of them. As most of the finds recovered from this area are medieval, the structures represented, albeit enigmatically, are likely to be medieval and thus related to the occupation of the nunnery.

A relatively large quantity of 17th-century finds were recovered from the dumped material between the two large walls at the north-east of the site. These included sherds of North Devon sgraffito gravel tempered wares and other common 17th-century varieties. The only medieval material recovered was fragments of medieval ridge tiles. Numerous fragments of 17th-century wine bottles were also retrieved. A large proportion of the finds from this deposit consist of animal bones and shells.

The only part of the site to yield medieval pottery was the southernmost part. Several fragments and small sherds of glazed medieval pottery (type not yet identified) were recovered.

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