County: Dublin Site name: FINGLAS: Meakstown
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0351
Author: Nóra Bermingham for IAC Ltd.
Site type: Building
Period/Dating: Post Medieval (AD 1600-AD 1750)
ITM: E 713083m, N 740855m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.405713, -6.299275
Pre-development test excavation was undertaken in Meakstown, Finglas, Co. Dublin, in July 1. The site, then in pasture, is to be the focus of a housing development. In its north-east corner is the site of a suspected enclosure, as well as a late 16th-century brick mansion, SMR 14: At present this part of the development area is occupied by farm buildings. All test excavation took place external to these farm buildings in the adjoining field, c. 300m x 150m.
Sixteen test-trenches placed in relation to the proposed housing construction footprint were excavated and recorded. All were 2m wide and ranged from 7m to 20m long.
Five trenches placed immediate to the farm buildings revealed that this area had formerly been a natural hollow built up using red brick rubble and general modern infill material and extended over an area of c. 70m north-south by 40m east-west. Nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered in these trenches.
Approximately 70m to the south of the existing farm buildings two east-west trenches (Nos 7 and 8) were opened, in which short stretches of two limestone block and red brick walls were uncovered. In Trench 7 the wall was oriented north-south and was c. 0.6m wide and at least 0.4m deep. Sherds of post-medieval pottery were also recovered from this trench. In Trench 8 the second wall was visible for 3.6m of its length and was up to 0.5m deep. It was oriented east-west. The walls may represent buildings ancillary to the brick mansion referred to in the SMR or other late farm buildings.
The remaining trenches placed in the centre and the north-western parts of the development area revealed topsoil overlying natural. A further two trenches opened across a subsurface linear feature extending from the southern field boundary to the western field edge proved the feature to be a former field boundary of relatively recent origin.
On the basis of the presence of the two walls in the south-eastern part of the development area, it was recommended that all further groundworks be subject to archaeological monitoring.
8 Dungar Terrace, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
