County: Dublin Site name: LISSENHALL LITTLE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 09E0464
Author: John Channing, c/o Headland Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd, Unit 1, Wallingstown Business Park, Little Island, Cork.
Site type: Bridge
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 718723m, N 749372m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.480970, -6.211288
Testing as part of the advance works on the proposed route of the Metro North light rail project was carried out on behalf of the Railway Procurement Agency. For the purposes of these works the Metro North route was subdivided into fourteen testing areas. Testing Area 6 was located in Lissenhall Little townland on the footprint of the Metro North alignment, Lissenhall Stop, the associated new access road and construction compound.
Testing of Area 6 was carried out on 22 September 2009 and 28–29 January 2010. A total of 27 test-trenches were excavated in four fields and one area of archaeological potential was identified.
No subsurface archaeological features were identified but the assessment included an examination of Lissenhall Bridge. It was confirmed that a continuous structure exists on the eastern side of the bridge between the Lissenhall and Balheary bridges beneath the modern landscaping feature in this area. Furthermore, the assessment also confirmed that an arch/culvert pre-dating the existing visible culvert on the western side of the bridge structure exists beneath the road. This may represent a medieval structure which existed between Balheary and Lissenhall Bridge prior to the redevelopment or widening of the road in the late 17th/early 18th century.
