County: Dublin Site name: CLONDALKIN: Tower Road and Old Nangor Road
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DU017-041001- and DU017-041005- Licence number: 03E1833
Author: Hilary Opie, for V.J. Keeley Ltd.
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 706179m, N 731372m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.321957, -6.406254
Monitoring of engineering/geological trial-pits took place at a proposed development site between the Tower Road and Old Nangor Road in Clondalkin village on 25 November 2003. The entire proposed ‘Tower Centre’ development lies within the zone of archaeological potential and was identified by the Urban Archaeological Survey as the area occupied by a medieval settlement. The development site surrounds the round tower, a designated National Monument, and impacts directly upon its environs.
Five trial-pits were excavated to probable rock and one trial-pit was abandoned before rock was encountered. In general the pits measured 3.2–4m in length and were 0.85m wide. They varied between 2 and 3m in depth. Trial-pits 3, 4 and 6 were all located in back gardens and produced distinctive, rich, humic garden soils (i.e. topsoil) overlying undisturbed natural, which was encountered between 0.35 and 0.5m below the ground surface.
Trial-pits 1, 2 and 5 were located in a yard area adjacent to the round tower. This consisted of a levelled, modern surface of hardcore and concrete with disturbed made-up ground beneath.
Trial-pit 2 produced the only find of archaeological significance (one sherd of medieval cooking ware pottery), but the depth of disturbed stratigraphy in these three trenches was considerable, varying between 1 and 1.4m, before undisturbed natural was encountered. These were very mixed layers, containing the medieval potsherd, post-medieval pottery and more modern finds, such as red brick and plastic bags. These may represent very disturbed archaeological layers.
Brehon House, Kilkenny road, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny
