2012:187 - The Park, Carrickmines, Dublin

The excavation took place in March-June 2012 of an area earmarked for a roadbridge, linking the Park retail centre, and Ballyogan Road, on behalf of Tristor Ltd. The site lay adjacent to the known remains of the Pale Ditch DU025-115, comprising a clearly visible bank and double ditch. The excavated area, 60m x 15m approximately, took place on lands where an extension of the Pale Ditch to the east might be anticipated, in the direction of Carrickmines Castle.

The visible remains of the Pale Ditch are largely confined to the townland of Jamestown. The excavation was carried out however on what is the boundary between Jamestown and Carrickmines Great. The excavated area lies at the bottom of a slope rising up to the Ballyogan Road, comprising sandy soils. On the other side, the lands comprise low-lying marshland, which includes protruding granite boulders, forming the banks of the Ballyogan Stream.

The excavation yielded the remains of a much diminished earthen bank and single ditch. The bank achieved a height of 1.5m above the base of the ditch. Limited accumulations of stone in the vicinity of the ditch suggest that the bank may have been founded on a stone base. At the most eastern extent, medium sized boulders may have formed a wall, or retained the bed of soils overlooking a cut in the soils for the purposes of a ditch. The ditch itself was much altered and disturbed by continuous cleaning and dredging. Soils retained by the bank included sherds of Dublin Ware, and Leinster Cooking Ware, indicating a 13^th-15^th-century date. Larger accumulations of sandy soils overwhelmed these deposits, possibly in the 17^th century. While it cannot be said with any certainty that the remains constitute the Pale Ditch, the position and characteristics of the bank and ditch suggest that they are part of the Pale Ditch.

At a later stage, in the 19th century, the entire bank of sandy soils was faced with a course of locally quarried limestone. Evidence for the quarrying can be seen on the face of nearby large protruding granite boulders. Furthermore, the edge of the dry higher ground was lined with a deep surface of rolled limestones for the purpose of a trackway, depicted on the Rocque’s Map of County Dublin 1760, linking Carrickmines Castle with Kilgobbin. The trackway was made redundant by the construction of the Ballyogan Road in the modern era.

Neil O’Flanagan, O’Flanagan Consultants, Botanic Court, 30-32 Botanic Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 9.

O’Flanagan Consultants, Botanic Court, 30-32 Botanic Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 9