2004:1884 - GSAR SITES 12 AND 13/13A-B, PRIESTSNEWTOWN, Wicklow

Site 12 of the GSAR, located in Field 3, Chainage 1825, was found on investigation to be of no archaeological interest.

Site 13 was located in Field 3, west of Priory Road, Chainage 1900-1940, and measured 25m (east-west) by 6m. The site consisted of the southern half of a ring-ditch (the other half, lying to the north, was outside the construction corridor). The ditch measured c. 12m in diameter (east-west) and extended south of the northern fence line, a distance of 3.5m. It was 1-1.3m wide and 0.2m deep. The ditch contained three fills. The upper fill was dark-grey silty clay with occasional flecks of charcoal and two pieces of worked flint. Stratified below was loose yellow/brown silty clay, which also contained flecks of charcoal and two pieces of worked flint. The lower fill consisted of black silty clay containing 90% charcoal.

Site 13a, located adjacent to the boundary between Fields 3 and 2, was found to be of no archaeological significance. Site 13b, located c. 22m east of the ring-ditch, consisted of a stone-lined hearth. The cut for the hearth was truncated to the west by the line of a plough furrow. The feature had a surviving length of 0.8m (east-west) by 0.55m wide and 0.12m deep. The western limit of the hearth, adjacent to the furrow cut, was lined with two limestone slabs, placed on the long edge, to protect the sides of the pit and contain the fire. The northern lining stone measured 0.4m by 0.12m by 0.08m, the southern lining stone 0.3m by 0.15m by 0.07m. The subsoil abutting the slabs externally was heavily oxidised. The lower fill of the hearth consisted of fairly loose black clay containing c. 95% charcoal. The upper fill was loose grey/brown silty clay with occasional flecks of charcoal. No artefacts were found in the hearth.

Interpretation of the Site 13 ring-ditch is impaired by the incomplete nature of the excavation. Less than half of the circumference was excavated and no internal features or finds were revealed. The centre of the enclosed space would probably have been a point roughly 2.5m on the other side of the GSAR corridor fence. Less than one-third of the space encompassed by the ditch was exposed for excavation. It is assumed that the ditch was annular in form and probably associated with burials, placed at or near the centre of the enclosed area. The profile of the ditch suggests that it was dug to provide spoil for a low mound to cover the interior. Subsequent levelling of the mound by agricultural work in the locality has left only the truncated remains of the ring-ditch behind, along with whatever unexcavated internal features survive in the subsoil external to the construction corridor. The stone-lined hearth on Site 13b is a significant feature, but regrettably an isolated one. Its only relationship to the ring-ditch is one of proximity, and no other inferences can be made.