1998:Ad1 - CLONDALKIN: Orchard Lane/The Ninth Lock Road, Dublin

Test excavation was carried out at a proposed development site to the north-west of the early ecclesiastic monastery of Clondalkin. The Cammock River forms the boundary on the southern side of the site. The site was formerly part of Clondalkin Paper Mills and was extensively developed with the construction of large industrial buildings in the latter half of the 20th century.

Clondalkin was the site of an Early Christian monastery founded in the 7th century by St Mochua. The monastery was plundered in 833 and burned in 1071 by the Vikings. Following the Anglo-Norman conquest Clondalkin was annexed to the deanery of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. The round tower is still standing in the village centre, and two granite crosses and a granite basin survive in the Protestant church and graveyard across the road. The 16th-century remains of Tully Castle are present at the eastern end of the village. The present streetscape reflects the presence of the monastic enclosure at Clondalkin. The site lies outside and beyond the monastic enclosure.

Two large test-trenches were excavated along the length of the proposed new buildings. The trenches were up to 38.5m long. No archaeological features or deposits were identified. Three sherds of post-medieval pottery were retrieved from the riverbank at the southern end of the site. All are from the same vessel. The vessel appears to be a Westerwald stoneware jug. The fragments date to the 17th or 18th century. The pottery was discovered in loose surface material lying along the side of a large 19th-century mill-race channel feeding into the original river channel.

2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin