2002:1952 - BALLYNABARNY, Wicklow

An assessment was undertaken in July 2002 at Ballynabarny, Rathnew, before the N11 Borrow Pit 3 development, in a large, trapezoidal hillside field east of the future Ballynabarny N11 interchange. The field forms the western slope of a large hill and slopes sharply down to the north-west, where it levels out before falling again sharply to the south. The southern half of the field was already in use as a soil stockpile. There were no archaeological monuments in the vicinity of the site, although an excavation was undertaken in 2002 c. 500m north of the site, on the line of the Newtownmountkennedy– Ballynabarny Road Scheme.

The assessment was carried out on foot of similar work by Tim Coughlan (No. 1950, Excavations 2002, 02E0646) that identified three locations of potential archaeology. Three sizeable areas were stripped of topsoil over and around these locations, in response to requirements by Dúchas for further clarification of the nature and extent of potential archaeology there. This work confirmed the conclusions of Coughlan, which identified the potential archaeology as probable ephemera: the remains of two former post-medieval/modern field boundaries, recent root holes from formerly widespread plant growth across the development site, and evidence of burning from an extensive 1955 episode of field clearance.

After the submission of a preliminary report and consultation with Dúchas, the monitoring of topsoil-stripping was undertaken across an area of c. 2.25ha in the field. A single light grey/brown scraper, with retouching along one face, was recovered from the topsoil, which varied from 80mm (with turf immediately overlying bedrock) to 0.35m deep. Four isolated charcoal-rich pits exhibiting evidence of in situ burning were found, cut into natural subsoil. A licence was issued for the excavation of these pits (02E1304).

The four pits were, without exception, only slightly less ephemeral than the modern material encountered during the assessment. All were scooped ovals or sub-ovals in plan, with gradual breaks of slope at the top, concave bowl-shaped bases, and fills with a significant amount of charcoal. One measured 1.52m north-west/south-east by 1.2m and was 0.13m deep; the second was 0.84m in diameter and 0.09m deep; the third measured 1.08m north-east/south-west by 1.2m and was 0.24m deep; and the fourth measured 2.4m north-west/south-east by 1.5m and was 0.2m deep. None of the pits produced any finds or any evidence of metalworking or burnt mounds/fulachta fiadh. Given the lack of any broader, detailed landscape context, interpretation is limited to their identification as fire-pits of uncertain age (campfire, field clearance or charcoal producing?), on a hillside location with good natural draught. Given the other archaeological evidence across the site, it remains possible that these pits also date from the post-medieval or modern era.

In addition, the northern of the two field-boundary ditches found during Coughlan’s initial testing was further investigated in response to a concern by Dúchas that the ditch may have been of antiquity. Evidence confirmed the interpretation of both Coughlan and this writer that the ditch was an unremarkable field-boundary ditch, post-medieval/ modern and likely to date from the second half of the 18th century or later.

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