County: Kildare Site name: CORBALLY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0864
Author: Redmond Tobin, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 684199m, N 713030m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.161098, -6.740912
Planning permission for the development of a sand-and-gravel pit in a greenfield area approximately 1 mile north of Kilcullen, Co. Kildare, was granted in late 1997. Archaeological monitoring of topsoil-stripping was a requirement of planning. Development work commenced in November 1997 and is ongoing.
During monitoring of the development by Avril Purcell, significant archaeological deposits were located, including the remains of three well-preserved Neolithic houses and associated features, with some additional activity dating to the Beaker period and Bronze Age (Excavations 1998, 103–4, 97E0449).
The current licence covers the Phase 2 development of the quarry. The area lies in the fields to the south and west of the present quarry and the former location of the three Neolithic houses. Both fields have been walked, and some possible prehistoric artefacts were noted. Charcoal spreads were noted in both fields. The extent of archaeological material from this particular site and its immediate hinterland emphasises its archaeological importance and the need for continued monitoring over this site.
Monitoring took place of topsoil-stripping by a bulldozer with a 4m blade. In the course of the stripping 24 areas of archaeological potential were identified. The features exposed vary from quite ephemeral features to substantial spreads of burned material with visible structural features, including one definite rectangular structure. The area of the spoilheaps remains untested. Work will continue on this site in 2001.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
