2012:237 - St Sylvester’s Church, Old Road, Malahide, Dublin

Excavation and monitoring were carried out on the site of the parish centre adjacent to the existing church, where test excavations had previously been undertaken (Ryan 2008 and the writer in 2010, Excavations 2010, No. 282, 10E426). The works did not reveal any evidence for the mound (DU012-023-03) recorded on this site. However there was much disturbance from later activity, especially on the western part of the site where the ground level drops significantly from that of the adjoining area, and it is possible that earlier remains may have been removed over the centuries.

Excavation was undertaken c. 2m to the west of the existing church, where a series of features had been identified during previous testing. A trench measuring 23m (north-south) by 10m was located on the high ground and sloping bank on this part of the site and therefore the edges of the trench had to be battered in compliance with health and safety regulations. This resulted in the area at the base of the trench being considerably narrower, measuring just 21.4m by 1.4-2.2m. An adjoining 5m by 5m area was opened at the north-eastern end of the trench. The earliest activity identified here was medieval occupation characterised by structural remains and several subsoil-cut features. The foundation remains of a square or rectangular building (011) were exposed on the northern end of the site, where they had been truncated by the construction of the modern sacristy building. Only the south-western corner of the medieval structure remained. The western wall measured 1.4m long, 0.6m wide and 0.25m high and the southern wall was 3.1m long. The walls were built of undressed limestone and the remains were not well faced, but the external south-western corner was defined by two large stones. The cut for the wall foundation was 0.9m wide. It was cut on its western side by a pit and an adjoining north-south linear feature. These features had combined dimensions of 3m by 0.9m and were 0.18m deep. They were filled by silty clay that contained seashell, occasional animal bone fragments and charcoal flecks.

A curvilinear stone drain was located 0.9m to the south of the structural remains. The drain was cut into bedrock and was 0.38-0.8m wide and 0.25m deep.  It was constructed of dry stone walls capped with limestone flagstones. The cavity was filled with loosely compacted brown/grey silty clay with frequent snail shells, roots and occasional charcoal flecks.

A north-south furrow and a pit [017] were located 10.4m to the south of the drain. The furrow was traced for 1.2m and was 0.3m wide and 0.15m deep. The pit measured 1.03m by 0.67m and was 0.22m deep. It was filled by brown/grey silty clay that contained medieval pottery.

On the southern end of the site, 19.1m to the south of pit [017], was a north-south orientated ditch. This ditch extended beyond the edge of the excavation area and was at least 2.17m long by 1.09m wide and 0.19m deep. It was cut by a pit that also extended beyond the edge of the excavation. This pit could not be fully excavated for health and safety reasons but was at least 0.16m deep and was filled by friable brown/grey sandy silt.

The medieval features were sealed by moderately compact mid-grey/brown silty clay that was 0.7m deep. It was on this deposit that the 19th-century boundary wall was built. This wall was located 7m to the west of the church and was 0.4-0.5m wide and 0.86-1.15m high. It was constructed of limestone blocks and occasional red bricks bonded with mortar. The wall is illustrated on the 1867 OS map but not on the 1837 edition and therefore its construction dates to sometime in the interim. A deep deposit of beach sand uncovered to the east of the boundary wall had probably been imported to build up the ground level at this location.

Ground works on the remainder of the site were monitored. In the central part of the site subsoil lay just below present ground level and the higher ground on the north-western end of the site comprised 1.75m of modern deposits overlying subsoil. This area was heavily disturbed by root action from a row of trees that had been felled in order to facilitate construction of the parish centre.  Parts of two wall footings were identified in this area and may be from the early 19^th-century church that previously occupied this site. Wall footing (027) was located 12.5m from the north-western corner of the existing church and its foundations were cut into bedrock. The remains comprised roughly hewn limestone blocks bonded with mortar. They measured 1m east-west by 0.9m and were 0.18m high. A few residual sherds of medieval pottery were found in this context. Further south were the remains of a north-south orientated wall footing. This randomly coursed wall was constructed of roughly hewn limestone with occasional red brick and slate fragments.  It measured 1.2m long, 0.5m wide and 0.32m high.

The 19th-century boundary wall at the north-western end of the site was demolished as part of the development. This wall was 14m long (east-west), 4m high and was a maximum of 0.62m wide at the base. It was constructed of randomly coursed limestone blocks, occasional sandstone and red brick bonded with mortar. The remains of a late 19^th-century wall foundation that extended 4.3m southwards from this boundary wall were also removed.

The finds recovered during excavation include a flint scraper, a retouched flake, and two pieces of debitage, none of which were chronologically diagnostic. The medieval pottery assemblage comprised domestic vessels, most of which were locally manufactured Dublin wares. The post-medieval pottery dated from the 17^th-20^th centuries and comprised imported and locally produced domestic wares. Several metal objects were also uncovered, most of which are nails.

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