1989:026 - ISLANDBRIDGE, Inchicore North, Dublin

This excavation was carried out during road-widening operations at Con Colbert Road, adjacent to the War Memorial Park at Islandbridge, an area which over the past 150 years has produced many Viking objects, together with some burials. The excavation was conducted in the area where, during stripping of the plough-soil, Mr P. Healy had observed and excavated two pits in the sub-soil, one of which contained an object of the Early Christian period (see No. 25 above). Excavation revealed that the site was located on a natural gravel ridge, parts of which had been quarried from time to time. Part of the area in question had at some time, post 17th century, been back-filled or levelled by the introduction of brown mineralised soil which contained fragments of post-medieval pottery. The area had been used as gardening plots prior to and during the 1939-45 War. The pit in which the Early Christian object was discovered penetrated the redeposited subsoil to a depth of 80mm. However, this does not rule out the strong possibility that the object was deposited into the pit among debris gathered somewhere nearby. A third pit was revealed during excavation, which contained animal bone, small stones, sherds of white china, pieces of clay pipe, and at its base the skeleton of a dog. The excavation did not reveal activity in this area prior to the post-medieval period.

121 Barton Road East, Dundrum, Dublin 14