2013:044 - Grounds of ‘Shanganagh Castle’, Shanganagh/Shankill, Dublin

A monitoring report and desktop study were commissioned by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to identify areas of archaeological potential in the grounds of Shanganagh Castle, a former 19^th-century stately home (not to be confused with the late medieval ruins of Shanganagh Castle to the north), straddling the south of Shanganagh townland and the east of Shankill townland

The study area is located adjacent to an important early ecclesiastical site, the church of Kiltuck (DU026-054) which appears to have been at its height at the time of the Anglo-Norman conquest, judging from its cross and connections with other similar sites locally.

Near the centre of the study area, the townland boundary has an unusual sub-circular kink which pre-dates the existing and former large houses and probably originates in the early medieval period. The most likely explanation is that the townland boundary here reflects a circular or sub-circular early medieval enclosure, perhaps the ditch of a ringfort located near the ecclesiastical site of Kiltuck. The majority of this potential ringfort has been destroyed by the construction of a pond and island in the early 19^th century, however a small part to the west, and the townland boundary, may survive.

Access to the Martello Tower and Batteries at Magheragh Point passed through the study area in the early 19th century. This alone would not suggest much archaeological potential, however additional fortifications closer to the study area may have been constructed. A survey by La Chauseée in 1794-5 recommended the construction of a fort at ‘Shanganagh Castle’ (‘Fair View’ it was called then). During General Cockburn’s alterations to the house a generation later, he found an old tower with cannonballs (DU026-120). He presumed the tower was ancient (and perhaps renamed the house as a result) but it may represent a hastily-constructed Napoleonic fort.

An archaeological trench (0.5m wide and 0.3m deep through the topsoil) was excavated to the north-west of the demesne pond to identify the potential early-medieval townland boundary ditch, which is not visible on the ground. Natural subsoil comprised sterile yellow gritty clay. An early 19^th-century stone-lined demesne drain was found, as well as a shallow ditch that was in line with a townland boundary marked on 19^th- and early 20^th-century OS maps. The ditch measured 2.2m in width and 0.25m in depth, with a gently-sloping eastern side and a steeply-sloping western side leading to a broad, gently-concave base. The base of the ditch was filled with a dark brown silty-clay with frequent small stones, red brick (machine-made), glass and cream- or pearlware pottery. Above this, the main body of the ditch was filled with loose topsoil containing plastic and glass. This ditch is marked on sources from 1655 but appears to have been backfilled c. 1810-1820. The lack of evidence for earlier material is frustrating but it is important to emphasise that only a very small sample (0.5m width) of the ditch was exposed and tested, and early medieval remains in this area may still survive below ground outside the trench.

Archaeology Plan, 32 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2