2001:425 - GLEBE (Site 43), Dublin

This excavation was part of the Laughanstown/Glebe project in preparation for the construction of a large interchange on the South-Eastern Motorway. It was first reported on in Excavations 2000 (No. 300).

A broad curve in the townland boundary suggested the possibility of an enclosure incorporated into the field layout. This curve can be seen on the 1656 Down Survey map of the Barony of Rathdown, and the townland boundary runs from a deep dry riverbed to the curve in the field boundary to a large rock outcrop. Subsequent large-scale excavations have revealed a large ringfort-like enclosure on a steep north-facing slope with an attached system of ditches which delineate field enclosures.

Removal of ploughsoil by hand revealed a mixture of finds including a barbed arrowhead, a number of blue glass beads, a stone spindle-whorl and a spudstone along with medieval pottery and plough pebbles. In addition, a number of distinctive scrapers with very steep retouching were found within the enclosure.

The enclosure measures up to 50m in diameter and lies on a steep north-facing slope. It is bounded by a substantial ditch which is on average 1.8m in width by 1.2m in depth. On the northern side there is a steep scarp. The entrance is located at the south-east, where it is defined by expanded curving terminals. It measured 2.7m in width. At both terminals large quantities of stone were recovered from the ditch, suggesting a possible stone revetment or reinforced gate feature.

The ditch fill follows clear episodes and consists of a single cut. The lower fills consist of collapsed ditch gravels from initial weathering prior to the recolonisation of the ditch by vegetation, silting rich in snail shell implying an original humic content followed by successive layers of collapsed bank material and silt. A copper ring, probably the head of a baluster-headed ring-pin, was found in the eastern terminal during sieving of soil and was well stratified in redeposited bank material.

Large quantities of animal bone have been located within the lower fills and current analysis suggests that cattle greatly predominate, followed by sheep, pig, goat, horse, dog and red deer. Many of these bones exhibit butchery marks and show signs of marrow extraction. A number of bone scoops have been found within this material, made from broken cattle femurs. The rear of one is decorated with a spiral dot motif. A further possible trial-piece made from an ox rib was decorated with an incised Greek cross and the letter P. Perhaps the most significant of the incised trial-pieces is an ox femur bearing the word deo alongside a chi-ro symbol and a number of compass-drawn arcs. These finds are all from primary fill and suggest a clear connection in the 8th century between those managing the stock on site and a monastic institution. The clear contender would be the nearby Tully Church, which shares a similar morphology (enclosing ditch, south-eastern entrance, attached fields). The fact that Glebe townland lies within Tully parish (at least on the Down Survey trace) is a further indication that these may have been church lands. Further historical work should clarify this point.

There is a substantial bank on the west and north sides of the ringfort which is incorporated into the field boundary. On the north side this consists of successive banks and intervening layers of humic material which contains snail shell and sea shells. A zoomorphic bone pin representing a horse’s head with well-defined ears and dot decoration was found within one of these deposits of bank material. This pin has no parallels in the National Museum collections but some broad affinities with zoomorphic pins from the 7th–10th centuries is possible. A bone bead decorated with an incised cross was recovered from a humic layer beneath the earliest bank deposits.

A number of intercut pits were dug through the upper bank layers in the north-western corner of the ringfort. The whole area of the pits covered 3.8m north–south by 1m. One of these contained a small clay-lined hearth measuring 0.7m by 0.64m. The highly burnt clay bounded an area of charcoal. Iron slag was found within the backfill of the pit along with burnt clay and a possible hammerscale. It is possible that this represents a smithing hearth. A number of deep post-holes were located in this area, close to the edge of the scarp and underneath the bank. Their plan is not complete as yet. Beyond the scarp there is a drop of 0.6m to the natural ground which has been artificially steepened. There is then a step of c. 1.1m before the substantial ditch. This step is only present on the north side of the ringfort. The ditch at this point is 2.2m in width and 1.2m in depth.

On the western side of the ringfort the bank consisted of layers of redeposited natural ranging from 0.15m to 0.52m in height which were overlain by more recent humic layers and formed a bank c. 1m high. The ditch on this side shows signs of at least two recuts. The subsequent recuts seem to have taken place after the abandonment of the ringfort. Since no medieval artefacts were located within the ditch fill it is probable that the ringfort ditch was incorporated into the field and townland boundary prior to the arrival of the Anglo-Normans.

Within the approximate centre of the enclosure a single area of shallow post-holes/pits, a rectangular heavily scorched hearth and a subrectangular pit were located in the west of the enclosure. The pit contained a silty clay with sparse charcoal flecks and fragments of burnt bone. The hearth must have been retained to account for its rectangular shape. The features covered an area of 5.66m by 4.27m.

A number of relatively shallow linear and curvilinear ditches were linked to the south-east of the enclosure and run beyond the road-take. These appeared as magnetic anomalies during geophysical survey and were confirmed during test-trenching. They were up to 0.5m in depth and up to 0.6m in width and are U-shaped in profile. The shallow ditches probably represent the remnants of composite ditches, banks and hedges which marked fields. One ditch terminates before reaching the enclosure. Again a cluster of stones was located in the well-rounded terminal and may define a place for a hurdle or gateway. The ditch subsequently runs outside the edge of the site line. The townland boundary itself may have formed the other side of this enclosure.

A large stone-packed post-hole, cut through a burnt area, was excavated along the course of a linear ditch leading directly toward the enclosure entrance. The post-hole marked the place of a fire, indicated by linear charred branches and fragments of burnt bone. This substantial post would probably have been part of the bank which ran to the entrance. This boundary runs towards the large rock outcrop SMR 26:25. Significant areas were also opened to the west of the enclosure and revealed no external features cut into natural soil.

The Barony of Rathdown lay in the area controlled by the Uí Briuin Cualann in the 8th century AD (Smyth 1994). The ecclesiastical site of Tully, known as Telach na n-Easpac or ‘the hill of the bishops’, lies less than 250m north-west of the site. This church and its high crosses are surrounded by a double-ditched enclosure with a south-eastern entrance and attached fields (Swan 1997, 167–8).

Excavation is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2002.

References
Smyth, A. 1994 Kings, saints and sagas. In W. Nolan and K. Hanigan (eds), Wicklow history and society, 41–112. Dublin.
Swan, L. 1997 Lehaunstown Park, Co. Dublin: a forgotten tower house. In C. Manning (ed.), Dublin and beyond the Pale, 164–8. Bray.

Brehon House, Kilkenny Road, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny