County: Dublin Site name: TALLAGHT: Greenhills Road
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0464
Author: Teresa Bolger, Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd.
Site type: Watercourse
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 709870m, N 729269m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.302307, -6.351602
A programme of test-trenching was carried out in an attempt to define, as far as is reasonably possible, potential adverse impact of the proposed realignment of Greenhills Road, Tallaght, on the archaeological record. A desktop assessment of the scheme indicated that it had the potential to impinge negatively on four archaeological sites: a tower-house (SMR 22:18-01); the site of a cornmill; the site of a gate lodge and pond; and a culvert. Test-trenches were opened at the site of the cornmill and also at the site of the gate lodge and pond. The culvert was recorded and surveyed in detail. Access to the site of the tower-house was not possible at this time, and investigation of the site will be carried out nearer to the time of construction.
Two trenches were opened at the site of the cornmill, situated just to the north of the proposed intersection of the Greenhills Road Realignment and the present Tallaght Bypass. Both trenches measured 10m x 2m and were excavated to a depth of c. 1.3m, reaching natural geological layers. Neither trench produced any evidence for archaeological remains.
The site of the gate lodge and pond is located in the grounds of the present Dominican priory. The priory had been a residence of the archbishop of Dublin, before being taken over by the Dominican order in the mid-19th century. The gate lodge and pond can be identified on late 18th- and early 19th-century cartographic records showing the disposition of the archiepiscopal residence in Tallaght. A single test-trench was opened at this site, measuring 10m x 1m. Though natural geological layers were encountered at the eastern end of the trench, these fell away sharply to the west, running under a deep layer of waterlogged, silty clay. This layer appears to be consistent with the remains of a silted-up water feature, indicating the location of the pond. No evidence for the gate lodge structure was uncovered.
The culvert is located under the present Greenhills Road and was surveyed and recorded using a total station and photogrammetry. It was of barrel-vaulted construction, using roughly dressed limestone blocks, and would appear to be of 18th/19th-century date.
8 Dungar Terrace, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
