2009:297 - CASTLEKNOCK: Mount Sackville Secondary School, Dublin

Monitoring of topsoil-stripping was carried out on the site of an extension to the existing Mount Sackville School. A series of four furrows were identified at the northern end of the footprint area. These furrows were between 0.45m and 0.5m wide and were between 0.05m and 0.1m deep. They contained topsoil-like silty clay with occasional animal-bone fragments and seashell. Sherds of glass, willow pattern and mocha ware indicate a 19th-century date for these furrows. An east–west band of gravel (1.5m wide) was uncovered midway across the excavation area and may mark the line of an old drain or possibly a path. No archaeological features or finds of pre-18th-century date were identified during monitoring and there was evidence for former ground disturbance associated with the construction of the existing school buildings and their associated services.