2008:460 - Folkstown Little, Area 5, Dublin

Excavation was undertaken at the site of a proposed distribution road associated with Phase 5 of the Balbriggan Outer Relief Road. Excavation followed on from the testing of the site, which was carried out by Fintan Walsh of IAC Ltd (Excavations 2007, No. 445, 07E0836), which identified a number of features of archaeological potential. Area 5 is located 300m due north of the chapel site DU005–001 on a relatively flat, low-lying, waterlogged area of pastureland, which had a slight northerly aspect. The site area totalled 1964m2 and excavation took place from 23 October to 14 November 2008.
The earliest phase of activity uncovered dated to the medieval period. In the centre of the site, an east–west-oriented curvilinear slot-trench (length 12.8m, width 1.2m, depth 0.25m) contained a single fill with copious amounts of 12th–14th-century medieval pottery. This feature may have formed a small animal pen, or windbreak. A single post-hole (0.3m diam. by 0.14m depth) containing medieval pottery was located 3m to the north, following the same curve. The last feature associated with this period was an east–west-oriented, amorphous-shaped spread (length 3.3m, width 1.7m, depth 0.35m), with a fill again containing numerous sherds of medieval pottery with a pit cut into the western side of the feature. This was 0.7m in diameter and 1.3m in depth and may have originally functioned as a well or possible cistern.
The second phase of activity on-site occurred during the post-medieval period in the form of a single east–west-oriented linear field boundary, which contained several filling episodes, including a ceramic drainage pipe near its base and several layers of 20th-century demolition rubble and waste. This feature is representative of land improvements during the post-medieval period.