County: Kildare Site name: LEIXLIP: St. Catherine's Park
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 97E0428
Author: Anne Connolly, Archaeological Services Unit Ltd, for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd.
Site type: Habitation site
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 701242m, N 736008m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.364573, -6.478846
Archaeological monitoring of ground disturbance works associated with a component of the Lower Liffey Valley Regional Sewerage Scheme commenced on 3 November 1997 and was of nine weeks' duration. These works involved the construction of an extension to an existing waste water treatment plant at St Catherine's Park, Leixlip, Co. Kildare.
The stratigraphy encountered was broadly homogeneous. A thin sod and fluctuating topsoil overlay the entire site. The topsoil varied in depth from 0.15m to 0.3m. Underlying this topsoil was a sandy gravel layer, which represented a natural undisturbed layer. This was excavated to a maximum depth of up to 5m. On occasion a layer of redeposited sandy gravel and clay, which had inclusions of mixed building materials, overlay the original sod and topsoil. Finds from this overlying material were modern and may have been associated with one of the periods of rebuilding at the plant in the 1970s and 1980s.
In the course of monitoring a number of features were observed. They consisted of a box drain, a wall and an associated gravel surface, and two associated walls and a cobble surface.
The box drain consisted of a stone-built, heavily mortared drain that had fallen into disuse. The wall and gravel surface were located c. 10m from the drain. The wall was orientated north-south and survived to a maximum height of 0.7m with an average width of 0.5m. It was of rubble construction and was uncoursed and heavily mortared. A foundation, which survived to a height of 0.3m, underlay this wall. It measured 0.65m in width and comprised a roughly coursed rubble foundation bonded with mortar. The gravel surface was located to the west of the wall.
Excavations to facilitate the relocation of an existing public footpath took place to the east of the main development site, and an area of cobbles measuring 14.5m north-south and a max. of 5.7m east-west was located directly underlying the thin till soil, at a depth of 0.15m. It appeared that the surface had sustained damage prior to the current works. Two linear strips of disturbed cobbles lay parallel to each other c. 0.4m apart. Further to the south were the remains of two poorly preserved walls. The uppermost levels of the walls were cleaned and examined. The first measured 12.1m north-south and was 0.67m wide. It was perpendicular to and adjoined the second wall, which measured 9.5m east-west and was 0.6m wide. Both walls were heavily mortared and comprised large to medium-sized unhewn or roughly hewn stones.
Purcell House, Oranmore, Co. Galway and Duke Street, Athy, Co. Kildare
