1999:365 - CHURCHTOWN SOUTH, Kildare

Test-trenching was carried out at a proposed development site in Churchtown South, Athy, on 20 May 1999. An assessment had already been carried out in response to a request for further information from the planning authority, and that report recommended that testing be conducted as a condition of planning. The proposed development is within an SMR site listed as KD34:6 and is defined as a possible deserted settlement. It is depicted on the 2nd edition Ordnance Survey map as a linear ridge but does not appear on the 1839 edition of this map.

Four test-trenches were inserted in the areas of greatest impact from the development. Stratigraphy was similar throughout most of the site, with topsoil occurring to a depth of 0.15–0.2m and lying directly upon a light brown subsoil that continued to the maximum depth to which the test-trenches were excavated. Occasionally pockets of red clay were found within this subsoil, but these were interpreted as being of natural origin. The southern end of Test-trench 1 showed a variation in this stratigraphy, with the red clay subsoil becoming more prevalent. The areas of red clay in Test-trench 1 also showed signs of modern disturbance, particularly in the form of deeply buried layers of red brick. According to local memory, the area was the site of a brickworks in earlier times, but the precise location of the factory is not known. This fact would certainly account for the occurrence of deposits of red brick and may also explain the concentration of red clay toward the southern end of the site, as the occurrence of this clay may have been the determining factor in the choice of location for the brickworks.

No features or artefacts of archaeological interest were identified, and it is possible that many of the surface irregularities in the field were caused by disturbance resulting from the former existence of a brick factory in the general area.

31 Millford, Athgarvan, Co. Kildare