County: Dublin Site name: Portmarnock
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 08E0376
Author: Colm Moriarty, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd, 27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.
Site type: Medieval settlement
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 724109m, N 743881m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.430410, -6.132345
An extensive medieval settlement, containing six well-defined property plots, was excavated between September and December 2008 at Station Road, Portmarnock, Co. Dublin. The area of excavation was roughly rectangular in plan and measured c. 50–70m north–south by 110m. The property plots uncovered were defined by linear ditches and were separated into toft and croft areas by internal divisions. They measured between 16m and 22m wide and up to 65m long, although their true lengths could not be properly assessed as the very front of the plots were truncated by a 19th-century roadway (Station Road).
The majority of settlement activity took place in the toft areas where the remains of at least four truncated buildings were identified. The structures were rectangular in plan and were defined by shallow wall cuts which contained low stone foundations that probably supported cob/mud walls. They varied in size, with the smallest building measuring c. 4m by 5m and the largest, although severely truncated, measuring at least 16m in length. Internally the buildings had floors of packed clay and areas of in situ burning indicated the former presence of hearths. Finds recovered from the structures included butchered animal bone, medieval pottery and ferrous objects. A number of horse skulls had also been deliberately placed within the clay floors.
Yard areas defined by metalled surfaces were identified to the front of the tofts and in some instances these had been terraced into the natural slope. Each plot also contained at least one large well-pit and these were sometimes accessed by metalled pathways. The wells measured up to 2m deep and were filled by waterlogged deposits that contained well-preserved organic remains including leather shoes and wooden bowl fragments. Numerous small gullies, ditches and rubbish pits were also excavated and these indicate that the plots were intensively occupied over a considerable length of time.
A large assemblage of artefacts was recovered during the excavation, including in excess of 2,000 sherds of medieval pottery, mainly locally produced Leinster cooking ware and Dublin-type wares, as well as large numbers of metal objects (3001). Evidence for food waste included large amounts of butchered animal bone as well as quantities of seashell (cockles, muscles, oysters, periwinkles, razor shell, etc.) and carbonised grains.
Post-excavation work for this site is ongoing.
