County: Kildare Site name: CELBRIDGE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 95E0014
Author: Margaret Gowen
Site type: Enclosure
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 697329m, N 733026m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.338514, -6.538521
The route of a proposed gas pipeline at the south-western end of Celbridge town was assessed in advance of pipe-laying to ensure that no features or deposits of archaeological importance would be either disturbed or destroyed by the work. The laying of the proposed 4-bar gas pipeline involved the excavation of a trench no more than 450mm wide and 1m deep. The site was located in the zone of archaeological potential as defined by the OPW Urban Archaeological Survey.
Celbridge is an interesting example of an Anglo-Norman borough which was founded beside an Early Christian site reflected by the curving line of Church Rd. The zone of archaeological potential is based on the extent of the 17th-century replanning, together with an area around the old church and the bridge. The Anglo-Norman borough may have been located in the vicinity of St Mochua's church and in the area of the bridge from which the name 'Cill Droichead' was derived. There are no remains of pre-17th-century buildings in the town other than the church.
The assessment was based on the inspection of seven mechanically excavated test-trenches, of which only one revealed fill material. Test-pit 2 exposed a cultivated soil, containing animal bone and some brick. It was located just outside the boundary wall of the church and could constitute the ephemeral remains of an enclosure around it. No other archaeological soils or features were noted in the other six pits.
Rath House, Ferndale Rd, Rathmichael, Co. Dublin
