County: Dublin Site name: ST DOUGLAS', Balgriffin
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: D.L. Swan, Heritage International
Site type: Church and Holy well
Period/Dating: Medieval (AD 400-AD 1600)
ITM: E 721230m, N 741499m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.409688, -6.176563
Two further periods of excavation were undertaken at this site during 1990 (See Excavations 1989, 18). These were necessitated by the removal of the tiled flooring of the chancel, and the disturbance of the underlying deposits in March, and by the opening of a drainage trench from north of the vault across the length of the site after the crop had been lifted in August.
The deposits beneath the old tiling had been totally disturbed, to a depth of almost 0.75m, and much disarticulated bone, together with mortar and rubble was encountered. Two fragments of roof tiling were recovered, one deeply scored and both with traces of green glaze on their outer surfaces.
An opportunity was afforded to examine some details of the construction of the walls of the early chancel, as sections were opened along their inner faces exposing the foundation courses. Along the south wall, a foundation trench 0.55m deep had been cut into the boulder clay, at the base of which a mantling of pebbles was laid. Above this, a rough paving of large, flat stones had been laid, forming the base of the wall. On this paving, a foundation of rough, uncoursed masonry rose for 0.4m to 0.45m, above which was the finely coursed masonry of the wall proper. The remnants of an early burial were set into the boulder clay at the lowest level, predating the construction of this wall.
The inner face of the north wall of the chancel had been partly dismantled to allow for a large recess with a pointed arch, which had been set into the thickness of the wall. Clearance here revealed a solid masonry plinth at a depth of 0.52m below the old flooring, upon which a complete skeleton was laid. The skull, however, had been set into a recess, consisting of a single stone with a rectangular section cut through its mass, placed in an upright position on the plinth, so that the head of the burial was completely protected, and only the face could have been viewed prior to burial. This is an unusual variation of a common, late medieval type of formal burial.
The section of the trench cut to the north of the vault revealed a well-defined ditch at a point 12.8m from the vault face. This ditch is best interpreted as part of the enclosure revealed to the south of the site in last year's excavations.
The site has now been taken over by Dublin County Council as a Historic Park.
32 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2
