2012:332 - WALTERSTOWN, Kildare

A pre-planning application made to the National Monuments Service, with respect to a proposed Playground Development by Kildare County Council at WALTERSTOWN, NURNEY, resulted in a recommendation that an Archaeological Impact Assessment be prepared, to include the results of a geophysical survey and programme of archaeological testing.
Ordnance Survey historic maps indicate the site of a nunnery to the immediate north of the development lands. There are no extant remains of this monument (KD027-025) and the extent is unknown. Burials were uncovered in the mid-1960s during the construction of houses to the immediate north of the subject site, although it is unclear in which house plots such discovery was made. The remains were removed and re-interred in the grounds of the nearby Catholic Church.
A geophysical survey of the site was undertaken by J.M. Leigh Surveys in late April 2012. The area was assessed using a Gradiometer with a sampling resolution of 1m x 0.5m and an Electrical Resistivity meter with a sampling interval of 1m x 1 m. A number of anomalies were detected, the locations of which were incorporated into the subsequent testing programme.
A total of thirteen trenches were excavated in the eastern area of the site. In general, the topsoil comprised relatively loose grey/brown sandy silty clay with moderate amounts of small-medium cobbles dispersed randomly throughout. This topsoil layer was deepest in the northern area of the site where it was up to 0.4m in depth, while in the southern area it was only up to 0.15m in thickness. This lay directly upon moderately compact creamy brown silty clay which, upon further investigation, proved to be of geological origin. The only feature of note was a shallow linear cut uncovered in T1 and broadly in the area where a linear anomaly was detected by the resistivity survey. It was up to 1.5m wide and up to 0.45m in depth with a broad U-shaped base and filled with topsoil. A fragment of copper wire recovered from the fill indicated that this might be associated with the earthing of an adjacent ESB pole. No other features of archaeological potential were noted from this area of the site.
A total of six trenches were excavated in the western area of the site. In general, the soil material in these trenches was a mixed-fill, comprising topsoil and rubble-like debris scattered randomly throughout, particularly towards the westernmost areas of the site. The subsoil, comprising creamy brown silty clay, was uncovered at depths ranging from 0.3m at the east to 1m in the west. A number of areas of iron panning were uncovered, broadly at locations determined by the geophysical survey.
No features of archaeological interest were noted during the course of testing. Although a number of anomalies were detected by the geophysical survey. These, for the most part, appear to be associated with geological features or modern disturbances. In that regard, following completion of the investigations, conversations with local residents and members of the tidy-town committee indicated that the site had been subject to intensive disturbances over the last 30 years, whereby soils from nearby developments were tipped across the site on a number of occasions and subsequently removed and/or spread across the site. In addition, soil associated with the construction of the residences to the north of the site was spread across the site following completion of its use as a construction compound in the 1960s. Indeed, a number of fragments of human bone, identified by Dr. Clare Mullins, are likely to have originated in the lands to the immediate north and dumped across the site when the former compound was reinstated.

Byrne Mullins & Associates, 7 Cnoc Na Greine Square, Kilcullen, Co. Kildare