2007:0867 - BALLYNAKILL/CALF FIELD/BOOLYKEAGH, Kildare

Testing was undertaken at the proposed Integrated Waste-Management Facility at Calf Field, Ballynadrumny, Co. Kildare. The site encompasses most of Calf Field townland and parts of the adjacent townlands of Ballynakill in County Kildare and Boolykeagh in County Meath.

After the initial assessment, a programme of further, targeted investigation was carried out. This involved both geophysical survey and test excavations. The results established that at least one archaeological site lies within the footprint of the proposed landfill area. Fourteen trenches were excavated, 7.3–36m long and 2m wide. A mechanical track digger with a 2m toothless flat ditching bucket was used to remove the sod and ploughzone layers, the rest being hand dug. In all cases the subsoil was found to be very shallow, no more than 0.4m from the present-day surface. The small number of features present in a few trenches were cleaned up, recorded and left in situ.

A layer of rough, rounded cobbles was discovered at the southern end of Trench 1. The cobbling was 2m long and held together by a dark grey clay. A sherd of early blackware and a glass fragment were recovered from the surface. A further yard surface, 6–8m long, and a small fire-pit were also uncovered. The fire-pit consisted of a crude wall of large stones and a brick bonded together with a light brown clay. A hearth was found within this. It consisted of a red/brown material with flecks of charcoal and small lumps of soft, sticky, burnt clay.

Almost the entire western half of Trench 2 contained the same compacted gravel yard surface found in Trench 1. Two ditch features were uncovered. The first was 1.5m wide and 0.4m deep. A fragment of a clay pipe and a sherd of 19th-century pottery were recovered from the fill. The second ditch, running parallel to the first but much smaller (0.8m wide and 0.1m deep), was U-shaped in profile.

A section of a clay-walled structure, c. 7.5m wide, was revealed in Trench 3. The interior of the structure consisted of a fill layer of very loose, pure gravel of stones of various size mixed with sandy grit. One area possibly represents a hole for a structural post of the building. It was not excavated. The eastern wall of the structure was not clearly defined. A yard surface was also uncovered, as was a large ditch, 1.7m wide and 0.7m deep, running north–south. The ditch had a U-shaped profile and produced two finds: a possible chert scraper and a possible chert core. This may suggest a prehistoric date for the feature.

Trench 6 revealed a feature of stones and dark humic clay containing a number of finds, all from the 19th century, including pottery and glass. At the southern end of Trench 6 a stone-lined drain was exposed. Running east–west along the route of an old road, it was set at the bottom of a deep cut into the natural subsoil. Angular stones, c. 0.15m in size, were used to line the sides of the drain, and large, irregular stones (0.2m by 0.5m) were used as capstones.

Trench 14 was cut straight through an earthen bank to a deep ditch running east–west. The bank was composed of almost pure, redeposited subsoil, sitting on top of a thick layer of dry, humic, organic material, which in turn overlay and filled a small ditch cut into the natural subsoil. No finds were recovered.

Few finds were recovered from the excavations. Most date from the 18th to mid-19th century and come from Trenches 1–3 and 5–7 (investigating the old settlement sites). However, a few finds from Trenches 1–3 appear to be late 17th century, while in Trench 3 a chert scraper was found in the fill of a ditch.

Unit 4, Dundrum Business Park, Dundrum, Dublin 14