2008:421 - Lansdowne Road Stadium Development, Dublin, Dublin

Monitoring of topsoil-stripping and demolition at Lansdowne Road in advance of the construction of a new sports stadium commenced on 17 May 2007 and continued into December 2008. Initial stripping occurred in the ‘back pitch’ area to the east of the site; the stratigraphy in this area of the site consisted of an upper layer of clay sand (0.1–0.25m in depth), forming the playing surface, which overlay a layer of made-ground consisting of industrial and domestic waste (0.2–0.5m in depth). As the sandy material was to be retained for the new pitch surface this material was first removed. It was from this material that a flint spearhead was recovered, though this had clearly been imported onto the site with the sandy pitch surface layer.
Continued stripping on the back/training pitch revealed a shallow (0.25–0.4m deep) early modern ditch cut into the made ground. This feature was filled with material containing red brick and modern pottery.
After the superstructure of the south terrace was fully demolished, the rubble covering the eastern end of this area was removed which allowed for the excavation of two test-trenches proposed for this area. These trenches were excavated through very disturbed ground to a depth of c. 1.2m. The material through which the trench was excavated consisted of clays, industrial waste and all contained modern material. No subsoil-cut features were revealed.
Removal of the made ground in the back pitch revealed a series of subsoil-cut features. These features included numerous palaeochannels which had partially silted up, presumably after the adjacent River Dodder had been confined to a single channel in the second half of the 18th century and the surrounding marshland reclaimed. The upper fills of these palaeochannels were largely composed of loose soils filled with post-medieval refuse. Several agricultural features including field drains and furrows were also revealed.
The most significant feature revealed in this area was a broad, largely flat-bottomed linear feature which ran for c. 65m from the north-west to south-east before turning in a more southerly direction for c. 60m and subsequently turning again to the south-west for a further 60m. This feature had an average width of 5m and an average depth of 1m from the post-medieval made ground surface. Its lower fills were typically comprised of water-deposited blue-grey silts, while its upper fill was composed of black soil with large amounts of clinkers from the nearby gasworks as well as building debris and other refuse. Drystone walling was present at the sides of the feature at the point where it first turned slightly to the south and a contemporary north-north-east to south-south-west-aligned tributary channel also adjoined the feature at this point. This tributary was traceable for 20m before running into the east stand area and was walled along its visible length.
The Dodder was used to power several mills and there is cartographic evidence from the end of the 17th century that a mill, which appears to be called ‘Robyn’s Mill’, was situated close to the later stadium, perhaps in the area behind the south terrace. By the 19th century two mill-races appear to have crossed the fields, where the pitches are now situated, joining the Swan River to the north. It is likely that the features described above are these mill-races.
Stripping at the west end of the site also revealed numerous palaeochannels and drains, except in the vicinity of the old west stand and DART line, the foundations of which had largely destroyed any subsurface archaeology.
The southern end of the site was very disturbed, probably as a result of past demolition and construction works associated with the south terrace. However, a small section (c. 6m in length) of a linear feature which was probably the continuation of the millrace tributary was revealed extending from the south-west corner of the main pitch area.