2007:546 - Scribblestown and Pelletstown, Dublin

A programme of monitoring, excavation and survey of a mill-race on the southern side of the Tolka River in Dublin 15 was undertaken in advance of ESBI works in the area. The ESBI groundworks were situated just west of the zone of constraint of the site of a castle at Scribblestown (DU014–074); however, no material associated with the castle was identified during the archaeological works, and no material of medieval date was encountered.
The majority of the archaeological work was focused on a mill-race on the south bank of the Tolka River, running westwards to Cardiffs Bridge. Cartographic and historical analysis of the mill-race demonstrated that it had been in use from the medieval period to the 19th century. A full field survey of the mill-race was carried out. The eastern part of the mill-race had been constructed in the medieval period and powered mills that had been located to the south of Cardiffs Bridge. This part of the mill-race was very disturbed, as it had been extensively modified in later times.
An excavation took place at the western end of part of the mill-race associated with a 19th-century ironworks, located again at Cardiffs Bridge. This later mill-race was over 1km long and had led to a mill-pool near the ironworks complex. Parts of the mill-race had been constructed from masonry and at least three phases of 18th–19th-century construction were identified. A number of sluices and gates along the course of the mill-race were mapped, and one of these was excavated. One unusual discovery was of discarded hearth cakes at each of the sluice-gate locations. These are the waste from small-scale ironworking and their presence suggests that the iron elements of the mill-race sluice gates may have been manufactured on site.