2015:274 - St Doulagh's, Kinsealy, Dublin

A targeted test excavation was carried out within the grounds of St Doulagh’s church (DU015-009001) on the Malahide Road by the Resurrecting Monuments community archaeology group from 25 July to 1 August 2015. The excavation was funded under the Irish Research Council’s ‘New Foundations Grant Scheme’ and the project was coordinated by Grassroots Archaeology in partnership with Professor Gabriel Cooney of UCD, supported by Fingal County Council. The site is located in the townland of St Doolagh's situated approximately 4.8km south of Malahide. Whilst the current St Doulagh’s Church dates from the 19th century, the attached buildings (DU015-009001) and graveyard (DU015-009006) are of medieval date.

A magnetic gradiometry and electrical resistivity survey of the lands surrounding the church was commissioned by the Friends of St Doulagh’s in 2009 and carried out by Ken Nicholls under licence 09R165. The survey recorded a substantial area of archaeological activity interpreted as comprising of a network of enclosure remains, pits, gullies, and associated features. The core area of activity is for the most part defined by a broad curving ditch interpreted as representing an early medieval ecclesiastical enclosure. This feature was assigned the SMR no. DU015-009005 and was believed to correspond to a V-shaped section of ditch identified to the south of the church by Leo Swan in 1990 (Excavations 1990:002). The Resurrecting Monuments excavation was intended to test the geophysical anomaly DU015-009005 thought to represent the outer enclosing element of the ecclesiastical enclosure.

A 1.5m by 8m test trench was opened over the anomaly in green field to the north of the church. The trench was hand-excavated and all arising soil was passed through 30mm sieves. The week-long excavation revealed evidence of three main phases of activity on the site. The excavation uncovered a V-shaped ditch approximately 1.2m deep and 2.7m wide. The basal fill of this ditch, a clayey silt with occasional angular stones (C08), was 1.22m deep and 2m wide. No artefactual material was recovered from this fill. Some cockle shells and molluscs in addition to two small fragments of probable caprovid rib were extracted from the sieved soil samples. One of these bone fragments was sent for C14 dating and returned a date of BP 1122+/- 42, or AD 853 - 935 (UBA-30540). The basal fill C08 was partially overlain on the southern side of the ditch by a thin layer of silty, gritty clay (C06) 0.23m thick. A charred free-threshing wheat grain was dated from this fill and returned a date of BP 204+/- 21 or AD 1790 - 1831 (UBA-30539), however it is believed that this seed is a contaminant from an upper fill which made its way into the sample during the collection of bulk soil.

The ditch was sealed by a layer of compact fine sandy clay (C04) 0.4m deep with some angular stone inclusions. A sherd of Leinster Cooking Ware and a sherd of Dublin-Type fineware were recovered from this layer in addition to a small perforated bead of white soft stone. A total of 139 animal bones were recovered from this layer. The bones were variable in condition but are mostly well-preserved or slightly weathered with occasional fragments being heavily eroded and a few burnt to a white chalky appearance from prolonged contact with fire. Of the 20 identifiable fragments, the remains of cattle and sheep are equally well-represented and most of the large/medium-sized mammal fragments may also be of cattle and sheep. Some fragments exhibit cut and chop marks indicative of butchery and food waste.

A layer of sandy material C007 0.16m deep, with some pebble inclusions,  was identified extending 1.8m upslope south of the ditch cut. This deposit overlay the subsoil and appeared to run parallel to the ditch cut. This feature is likely to represent the remnants of an internal bank associated with the ditch. This may correspond to the traces of a bank which were visible to north of the graveyard in 1977 (SMR file). A total of 26 bones were uncovered from this material. Most of these were small indeterminate fragments of bone from a medium-sized animal, such as pig or sheep/goat. Two sheep/goat bones are identified; a scapula of a lamb less than six months old and a molar from a fully adult sheep.

In addition to a range of post-medieval ceramic, six sherds of medieval ceramic were uncovered from the topsoil. These included a single sherd of Saintonge ware.

Grassroots Archaeology, 15 Vartry Heights, Roundwood, Co. Wicklow