2009:293 - PRIORSLAND, BRENNANSTOWN, Dublin

CRDS Ltd have been retained by the RPA to undertake test excavations at Priorsland, Brenanstown townland, south Co. Dublin, in advance of the development of a park-and-ride facility for the Luas. The proposed development site is bounded on the south by the Carrickmines River, with the M50 some 135m beyond; by Priorstown House and gardens c. 80m to the west, with the Glenamuck road beyond; by the Luas light rail line and station construction site to the north; and by a pasture field to the east. The site is in an area with a relatively high density of archaeological sites: 51 recorded monuments are located within 3km of the proposed development, including the multi-period Carrickmines Castle (DU026–005001) some 270m to the west of the boundary of the site. The excavations were carried out between 18 and 26 November, during extremely poor weather, with the assistance of two mini-diggers. A total of 624.7 linear metres of test-trench in 22 trenches were excavated to a prearranged pattern determined by the results of a prior geophysical survey.
Archaeological features consisted of a pit or shallow ditch feature crossing the width of Trench 9 (1.6m by 0.9m wide and 0.2m deep), containing charcoal-rich soil similar to burnt-mound material. This feature roughly corresponds to the location of a modern (20th-century) field boundary depicted on the 1:2500 series 25-inch OS map, indicating the possibility that this feature is modern. However, if not archaeological itself, the fill of this feature, containing charcoal-rich material, may indicate the presence of a nearby burnt mound; this would not be an unusual find close to a river or watercourse. A second potential feature was an irregular apparent cut (0.95m by 0.15m and 0.17m deep) filled with mostly sterile brown clayey silt with moderate charcoal inclusions around its upper part. Two possible post-or stake-holes were also discovered in Trench 9. Unfortunately no archaeological objects were recovered from these features to date them or characterise their function. The distinctive ridge-andfurrow of modern land cultivation was observed in a number of test-trenches, particularly in Trenches 7 and 10. This ridge-and-furrow is visible on aerial photographs of the site. Charcoal in the fills of these ridge-and-furrows in Trench 10 indicates sods were burnt to fertilise the ground.
A total of 105 finds were recovered. Ninety-five were metal objects recovered by metal detecting: 52 nails and 28 unidentified iron objects. Other finds included a horseshoe, bucket handles, possible knife tips, iron rods and a possible decorative cheek piece for a horse bit and bridle. Trench 11 yielded the highest number of metal objects. This trench runs parallel to the old railway line c. 20m to the north, suggesting these objects may be related to the railway construction during the 19th century, or lost or discarded farm machinery. None of the metal finds were identifiably medieval. Ceramic finds included one clay-pipe stem and eight sherds of pottery. One of the pottery sherds was a local medieval ware, the remaining seven were modern wares.