County: Dublin Site name: PHROMPSTOWN 2
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 26:58 Licence number: 02E1022
Author: Martin E. Byrne
Site type: Ringfort - rath and Field boundary
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 725767m, N 719430m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.210399, -6.117108
Testing was undertaken at the site on 10 July 2002 as part of the preparation of an environmental impact statement for the proposed new Dún Laoghaire Golf-Course. The site is marked as a large, univallate enclosure on the first-edition OS 6-inch map and as a large, D-shaped, bivallate enclosure on the second-edition map. The site was levelled in the 1950s, and there are no visible traces on the ground. A field boundary, with an associated open drain on its northern side, runs across the southern half of the site.
A Cambridge University oblique aerial photograph of 1970 (CUCAP-BDP 22) shows a complex cropmark on the site. It appears to indicate a bivallate enclosure with two levelled banks and external fosses that run from south-west to south-south-east. There are some possible indications of a third fosse (internal diameter c. 80m; external diameter c. 120m east–west). There are linear cropmarks indicated in an arc running from the south-west through to the north-east of the site. These may represent associated field systems, now levelled.
Ten trenches were excavated to determine the extent of the enclosure site and whether any subsurface remains of the linear cropmarks could be uncovered. Features of archaeological interest were revealed in Trenches 1, 2, 5, 8 and 9. The surfaces of these features were c. 0.15m below the existing ground surface.
The feature in Trench 1 was up to c. 2m wide and consisted of a moderately loose, brown/grey, silty clay. A single sherd of medieval pottery was recovered from the surface of this feature.
The feature in Trench 2 was up to 2.8m wide and consisted of a moderately loose, grey, silty clay. A single sherd of medieval pottery was recovered from the surface of this feature.
The feature in Trench 5 was up to 2.9m wide and consisted of a loose, brown, silty clay. A number of small to medium-sized stones were set into the soil matrix. This feature ran diagonally across the line of the trench. A single sherd of medieval pottery was recovered from the surface of this feature.
The feature in Trench 8 was up to 1.5m wide and ran diagonally across the trench. It consisted of a moderately loose matrix of brown/grey silty clay with moderate amounts of pebbles.
The feature in Trench 9 was up to 1.2m wide and consisted of a moderately loose, grey, silty clay. The feature did not run across the entire width of the trench.
The features uncovered in Trenches 1, 2 and 5 are indicative of the backfilled external fosse of an enclosure, which, when plotted, has a diameter of c. 90m. In addition, the absence of a similar feature in Trench 3 may indicate that the entrance to the enclosure is at this general location (i.e. to the south-west). The presence of medieval pottery in the fill of the fosses may indicate a medieval date for the site.
The features uncovered in Trenches 8 and 9 are also indicative of the fills of cut features, possibly associated with previous field boundaries, although the feature in Trench 9 may be part of a large pit.
After discussions with Dúchas, an appropriate preservation strategy was agreed.
31 Millford, Athgarvan, Co. Kildare
