2010:403 - KILL: Whitethorn Grove, Kildare

Testing was undertaken of proposed development lands at Whitethorn Grove, Kill, in March 2010. The testing was carried out as part of the preparation of an archaeological impact assessment requested by the planning authority with respect to an application to construct a complex of 18 townhouses with associated car-parking in the site. The site is partially situated within the westernmost extent of a zone of archaeological potential established for the village of Kill, the site of an Early Christian foundation which was later incorporated into a medieval settlement. There are no extant monuments located within, or in the immediate environs of, the development site and no subsurface archaeological remains have been uncovered, to date, in this area of the village.

A total of 22 test-trenches of differing lengths and orientations were excavated within the overall extent of the site. The trenches were excavated by machine fitted with a toothless ditching/grading bucket, following which the sides and bases were cleaned by hand and inspected. In addition, all spoil generated by the excavation process was subsequently ‘raked over’ in an effort to increase the chances of artifact recovery. Nothing of archaeological interest was uncovered during the course of the testing.