County: Dublin Site name: Kildonan
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 10E0462
Author: Edmond O’Donovan, Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, 120b Greenpark Road, Bray, Co. Wicklow.
Site type: Kildonan Corn-drying kilns and enclosure site
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 711696m, N 740529m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.403080, -6.320236
Test excavation was carried out on behalf of the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) at Kildonan, Co. Dublin, on 10 November 2010. This followed on from a geophysical survey carried out by Target Archaeological Geophysics during 2009 (licence 09R195). The geophysical anomalies identified in Kildonan townland were interpreted as a possible prehistoric enclosure. Three trenches were excavated as part of the programme of test excavation at the site.
The results of the geophysical survey suggest that the enclosure measures c. 35m x 25m. The testing identified the presence of a ditch relating to this enclosure within Trench 1. Two post-holes were recorded on either side of the ditch and may indicate the presence of an associated palisade. A comma-shaped corn-drying kiln and the probable flue of a second corn-drying kiln were located in Trench 3. It is likely that the subrectilinear enclosure and corn-drying kilns are contemporary; however, secure dating evidence and a direct stratigraphical relationship was not established as part of the assessment of the features.
The possibility that the remains at Kildonan 1 represent multi-phased occupation should also be considered. The site appeared as a clear anomaly on the geophysical survey and appears isolated within its immediate surroundings. The definitive interpretation of the enclosure is difficult given the scale of the investigation to date and the site requires further investigation; however, comma-shaped kilns are known to date from the early medieval period and it is tentatively suggested that the site is a granary associated with a barn.
