2010:293 - SANTRY: 19 Santry Villas, Dublin

Groundwork relating to the construction of a detached two-storey house at 19 Santry Villas, Dublin 9, was monitored on 14 October 2010. The development site in Santry Village (though shown to be on a greenfield site without features on Roque’s map of 1760, Duncan’s map of 1821 and the first-edition OS map of 1837–43) is close to the medieval church of St Pappan (DU014–05701), a font (DU014–05701) and a holy well (DU014–05701), as well as the graveyard (DU014–05701). It is in close proximity to the north side of the enclosure, DU014–05701, a portion of which exists within the graveyard. This enclosure may represent an early enclosure relating to the 6th-century foundation of St Pappan in Santry.

A tracked ‘mini-digger’ was used to dig the foundation trenches for the new dwelling. The building was designed as a compact structure, occupying a relatively confined garden plot along the east side of No. 19.

The foundation trenches consisted of a rectilinear outline measuring approximately 11m long (north–south) by 5m wide, encompassing the external footprint of the proposed structure. Digging commenced with the foundation trench at the northern end of the structure, adjacent to a manhole located towards the rear of the garden. The trench was 0.8m wide by up to 0.5m deep and was dug through loose dark-grey/brown topsoil with a small amount of stone, and flecks of brick and mortar.

No finds or features came to light during monitoring of the site and no further recommendations for archaeological work were made.