County: Wicklow Site name: KILLARNEY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 95E0004
Author: Conor McDermott, Irish Archaeological Wetland Unit, Dept. of Archaeology, UCD
Site type: Pier/Jetty
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 725212m, N 718010m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.197777, -6.125967
In early January 1995 the IAWU carried out a brief investigation of a recently exposed wooden structure on the banks of the River Dargle at Bray, Co. Wicklow, at the request of the OPW.
The structure was identified by the Urban District Council as extensive mechanical excavation was carried out to widen the river. The original bank was approx. 4.5m high and this was removed to just above water-level and taken back 25m. All of the material removed was glacial gravel reworked by the river.
Seventeen oak timbers were exposed 5m from the current river edge at a height of 0.7m above the water-level. The mechanical excavations continued around the site after timbers were identified so that it survived on a slight rise. All the timbers visible at the start of the excavation had been dislodged from the gravel and were loose. However, a single stratified timber was uncovered during the excavation. Most of the timbers were lying in a north-east/south-west orientation perpendicular to the river bank. There were a small number of pieces set at right angles to this. The timbers ranged in width from 0.1m to 0.6m and the max. length was 3.2m.
The surfaces of the timbers were abraded and no toolmarks were identified at the site. In cross-section nearly all of the timbers appear to have been split and this is the strongest evidence that the site was not formed by natural deposition. An unutilised flint flake was recovered from a disturbed context.
Dendrochronological analysis failed to produce a date; however, it did indicate that the stratified timber was probably from the same tree as some of the disturbed timbers. A sample has been sent for radiocarbon dating.
