1999:172 - COMMON, Dublin

An assessment was carried out at the site of proposed residential dwellings at Common, Co. Dublin, in the barony of Nethercross. The green-field site consists of an irregularly shaped field with pronounced north-south undulations, currently under pasture, lying on the west side of the Oldbawn Road, east and south-east of which is St Margaret's Golf and Country Club, in Skephubble townland. The site of a possible ringfort and graveyard, shown on the 1837 1st edition OS map, is in the south-east corner of the field, now occupied by a modern bungalow. Local tradition describes this area as 'Kit's Green, the site of an old fort or buying place', although the townland name 'Common' is most likely derived from the Norman-French comun, which denotes public land. Archaeological monitoring of a Bord Gáis reinforcement pipeline (see No. 161 Excavations 1999) along the east side of the Oldbawn Road during September 1999 did not reveal any archaeological features or finds.

The assessment was undertaken on 30 November 1999 under recommendation from Dúchas before a planning application and focused on the area closest to the site of the ringfort/graveyard. The south-eastern edge of the proposed development is c. 34m west of the hedge surrounding the dwelling now built on the ringfort site, and the proposed access road into the site from the Oldbawn Road is c. 15m south of a delineated dwelling in the north-east corner of the field. Excavation of three test-trenches was undertaken with the aid of a mechanical excavator.

Trench 1 was positioned north-east/south-west along the eastern side of the proposed development site. It measured 106m by 1.2m. Dark brown topsoil on average 0.25m deep overlay grey/brown, gravelly clay subsoil across the southern 60m stretch of the trench and orange/brown clay over the remainder. The change in the underlying subsoil reflects a gradual decrease in slope from south to north.

Trench 2 was parallel to Trench 1, 38m to the west. It measured 100m by 1.2m and in profile revealed dark brown topsoil on average 0.25m deep overlying grey/brown, gravelly clay 0.35m deep and orange/brown clay 0.3m deep, the latter confined to the northern 30m stretch of the trench. As with the Trench 1 sequence, the change in the underlying subsoil reflects a gradual decrease in ground level from south to north.

Trench 3 was perpendicular (west-east) to the north end of Trench 2. It was excavated in interrupted fashion, comprising four trenches measuring 10m by 1.2m and set c. 10m apart. The purpose of these trenches was to test the site of the proposed access road into the site from the Oldbawn Road. Dark brown topsoil 0.3–0.4m deep overlay orange/brown clay at least 0.2m deep, in turn over very gravelly, orange/brown clay.

The assessment did not reveal any soils, features or finds of archaeological significance. Dúchas The Heritage Service recommended archaeological monitoring of all groundworks across the western margin of the proposed development site.

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