County: Dublin Site name: Priorsland, Glenamuck Road, Brennanstown
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: E003284
Author: William O. Frazer, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd, 27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.
Site type: Testing
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 721960m, N 724137m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.253569, -6.172275
Monitoring was undertaken between March and June 2008 of groundworks associated with the temporary diversion of a canalised watercourse (the narrow Carrickmines River) for the LUAS B1 line. The site is located just off Glenamuck Road, immediately north of the M50 motorway. No known monuments lie within the boundaries of the development site. However, the site lies immediately east of the constraint area for Carrickmines Castle (DU026–00501–04), a national monument.
Stripping of topsoil was carried out in the designated area with a machine excavator equipped with a flat-edged grading bucket. Topsoil was reduced by c. 0.2–0.4m, onto subsoil. Stripped topsoil was removed for storage nearby, where it was spread and metal-detected for artefacts.
In addition monitoring/inspection of machine works in the canalised watercourse, the Carrickmines River, was undertaken, as per the request of the Underwater Archaeology Unit and the RPA archaeologist. Spoil removed from watercourse works was similarly metal-detected, albeit with some restriction due to normal health and safety concerns.
No significant archaeology was identified during the monitoring. One archaeological artefact was recovered during metal detection: a gilded copper alloy rococo shoe buckle, probably dating from the mid-18th century.
