2008:390 - Turvey Avenue, Donabate, Dublin

The excavation took place from 27 June to 8 August 2008 prior to the widening of an existing segment of the road at Turvey Avenue, Donabate. The site was located within the Newbridge Demesne and was positioned within the zone of archaeological potential of an ecclesiastical complex (DU012–005) containing a church, a tower-house, a graveyard and a memorial slab.
The church, St Patrick’s Anglican Church, was constructed in 1758 by Archbishop Cobbe of the nearby Newbridge House on the site of a medieval parish church. No visible remains of the earlier church survive, although a tower-house possibly dating to the 15th century is attached to the eastern end of the surviving 18th-century church building.
Phase 1: early medieval activity
A wide linear ditch ran east–west down the entire length of the site and was 99m long, 4.5m wide and was on average 1.55m deep but extended east and west beyond the limit of the excavation. It was not the earliest feature on-site as it cut an oblong-shaped pit which was filled with brownish/grey silty clay and contained a small quantity of charcoal, animal bone and shell. The ditch was filled with several layers of silts, sands and clays which contained only a moderate quantity of animal and charcoal flecking. Post-excavation analysis of the animal bone and the soil samples taken should reveal whether this ditch was in fact early medieval in date.
Other possible early medieval features included a possible ditch or pit, the majority of which extended beyond the limit of excavation. This ditch or pit terminated close to the southern edge of the main ditch and was cut by a small medieval corn-drying kiln. A small quantity of animal bone was recovered from the primary fill of this feature.
Phase 2: medieval activity
The remains of a large east–west-orientated rectangular structure were uncovered in the centre of the site. It measured 9m east–west by 7.5m but extended south beyond the limit of the excavation. The existing external drystone walls only survived to a height of 0.32m (2 courses) and were severely truncated at the northern and eastern ends. The remains of a possible internal partition were located at the western end of the structure but the walls were truncated by a number of slightly later medieval features including a small corn-drying kiln. A small flat stone surface was located within the structure at the western end and probably represented the remains of an internal stone floor. Several sherds of late 12th- to mid-14th-century pottery were retrieved from among the stones of the external walls.
A number of north–south-orientated ditches ran downslope across the centre of the site. They probably represented the remains of medieval drainage ditches which carried floodwater away from the surrounding area and particularly from the medieval ecclesiastical complex which would have been located on the site of the existing ecclesiastical complex at the top of a hill to the south-east. These ditches truncated the large early medieval ditch which ran east–west across the site. A significant quantity of late 12th- to mid-14th-century pottery was recovered from the fills of the ditches making them broadly contemporary with the rectangular structure.
A large subrectangular-shaped rubbish pit located 2m north of the southern limit of excavation was 2.8m long, 2m wide and 1.56m deep. One of the fills, which consisted of dark-brown silty clay, contained a small silver coin/token, iron nails, animal bone and a large quantity of late 12th- to mid-14th-century pottery. A second large irregular-shaped pit was cut by one of the medieval drainage ditches and was 2m long, 1.5m wide and was 0.9m deep. The basal fill contained a small quantity of animal bone and several sherds of late 12th- to mid-14th-century pottery. Both pits appear to be broadly contemporary with the rectangular structure to the west.
Phase 3: post-medieval activity
The substantial stone footing of a round building, possibly a windmill or a storage building, was located 8.6m west of the medieval rectangular structure. The southern half of the structure extended beyond the southern limit of the excavation but it was possible to establish that the internal area was 4m in diameter. Several sherds of post-medieval pottery were recovered from the foundation cut of the structure. The wall truncated a cobbled surface which may have been the remains of a yard associated with the nearby medieval structure but was cut by an oval pit which was slightly later in date. All these features cut an early medieval linear feature.
The remaining post-medieval activity consisted of a series of drainage ditches, pits and gullies which truncated the medieval and early medieval activity in the centre of the site. Three north–south-orientated drainage ditches which ran downslope across the width of the site truncated the east–west-orientated medieval and early medieval ditches. The fills of the post-medieval ditches contained a large quantity of post-medieval and modern finds.
A gully which was orientated east–west truncated the upper fill of the large early medieval ditch but was cut by an oval-shaped pit and a second drainage gully. Both gullies were probably associated with the post-medieval drainage activity on the site. The oval pit contained several sherds of 17th-century North Devon gravel-free ware and a small quantity of animal bone; it probably functioned as a rubbish pit.
It is probable, given the apparent continuous occupation of the site, that the location of the current ecclesiastical complex was of some importance in the landscape. It has already been established that this site was the location of a medieval parish church which may in turn have been constructed on the site of an earlier medieval ecclesiastical complex. The large ditch may have represented the remains of a defensive ditch which enclosed the complex. A large number of ecclesiastical sites were enclosed during the early medieval period in order to provide extra security as well as defining sacred space from the secular community.