2001:463 - MONEYATTA COMMONS, Saggart, Dublin

Monitoring was undertaken on a site near Saggart, Dublin 22. The site, in Moneyatta Commons townland, was under development as a community housing scheme. It is located south of Saggart village at the point where the topography rises from the low-lying plain of the greater Dublin area to the hills which form the foothills of the Wicklow mountains. The development area is bounded to the north by a school and housing estate, to the east and south by a newly constructed golf-course and to the west by the N82 (Boherboy) road.

The Moneyatta Commons site is also known as the Fairgreen. Local tradition tells of travelling entertainers using the site during the early years of the 20th century. The north-western corner of the site is included in the zone of archaeological constraint for Saggart (SMR 21:34).

The community housing group intend to construct an access roadway with services for 21 houses. A civil engineering contractor undertook the construction of the road and services, while the construction of the dwelling-houses was undertaken by private individuals. The writer monitored the construction of the access road; however, the stripping of topsoil associated with each individual house was monitored by other parties (see Excavations 2001, No. 464).

The stripping of topsoil commenced on 25 April 2001. The topsoil was subsequently stockpiled. Sod and ploughsoil were removed to reveal natural subsoil at a depth of 0.2–0.4m. A metalled surface was revealed in the north-western area of the site; however, fragments of modern glass were found associated with this path. Two areas of archaeological interest were revealed. These comprised a small cremation pit and a badly disturbed trough from a fulacht fiadh.

Topsoil removal revealed a small token cremation deposit in the north-west of the area stripped for the construction of the access road. This deposit comprised a small quantity of moderately compact black silty clay, rich in charcoal and containing frequent inclusions of cremated bone. The bone inclusions were generally 1–3mm in size. The deposit measured 0.5m east–west by 0.4m with a depth of 0.07m. It sat in a shallow rounded depression cut into natural subsoil. Analysis of the charcoal in the cremation deposit was carried out by Dr Ingelise Stuijts, who found that it contained Scots pine, sloe and oak. Scots pine is virtually absent from the Irish flora after the Bronze Age. It expanded on Irish bogs during a dry period around 2200 BC, but when climatic conditions deteriorated it disappeared almost completely.

The stripping of the topsoil to enable road construction revealed a disturbed pit with a partial fill of burnt stone and charcoal, approximately 70m to the east of the cremation deposit. Hand-cleaning of this pit revealed it to be the partial remains of a fulacht fiadh trough, which was cut by a land drain.

The pit or trough was initially visible as a subcircular cut into natural subsoil. This comprised a sloping-sided flat-based cut, but its base was partially removed by the land drain. The cut for the trough measured 1.56m south-east/north-west by 1.5m with a depth of 0.27m. The sequence of fills within the trough was badly affected by the cutting of the land drain. However, a typical fulacht fiadh-type fill was present. The lowermost fill consisted of a moderately compact black silty clay with frequent inclusions of heat-shattered stone. This fill survived within the cut at the sides to a depth of 0.32m, in particular on the western side. Angular, heat-shattered, small to medium-sized sandstone fragments were present within this. Analysis of this fill for macro-plant remains proved futile, but analysis of the charcoal revealed a total of four wood species. The presence of alder, ash, holly and elm was noted.

2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin