County: Kildare Site name: PALMERSTOWN, Johnstown
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 03E0917
Author: Ellinor Larsson, c/o Arch-Tech Ltd.
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 692045m, N 721618m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.236959, -6.621157
Monitoring was undertaken in June and December 2003 at the site of a residential development in Palmerstown, Johnstown, Co. Kildare. The site is situated to the south of Johnstown village, c. 200m from a church site and graveyard (SMR 19:14). Two previous phases of monitoring were carried out by Susan McCabe (No. 915, Excavations 2003, 02E1820).
Monitoring of topsoil-stripping revealed a complex stratigraphy of buried peats beneath overlying soils. Due to the presence of buried peat, also noted in an earlier phase of works, the potential for archaeologically sensitive material increased, which necessitated the monitoring of the foundation trenches. This was carried out in two phases and divided into Areas A and B, constituting the south-east part of the development. Area A, in the east part, contained variable subsoil characters, mainly due to intermittent waterlogging. In the south of Area A, the topsoil directly covered a dark-brown/black layer of dried-out peat which partially overlay a white/cream-coloured, sterile marl. Under the marl and present below most of the various subsoils in Area A was a thick layer of peat, which in its turn overlay the natural gravel/boulder clay, into which the foundation trenches were cut. The house foundations had a maximum depth of 1–1.3m below the overlying layers.
Several features of recent agricultural origin were revealed, including a field boundary and several land drains. Finds from the topsoil consisted of a small assemblage of ceramics of post-18th-century date. Monitoring of topsoil-stripping and foundation trenches in Area B was undertaken in December 2003, revealing no underlying peat. This phase of works incorporated the remaining five house foundations in the south of Area A, where a small amount of buried peat was encountered. One field boundary ditch, adjacent to an existing boundary, was revealed in the east of Area B. No archaeological features or deposits were identified during this phase of works. Finds from the topsoil of Area B consisted of a small assemblage of post-medieval and early modern sherds of pottery, and ferrous objects of recent agrarian origin.
32 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2
