2015:386 - RATHCOOLE: Rathcoole House, Main Street, Dublin

Planning permission was granted for alterations to Rathcoole House (NIAH 11213027) and for the construction of 6 houses in the grounds (SD13A/0180). Condition 6 of the grant of planning stated that all sub-surface works should be monitored.

Local historical sources state that a 14th-century manor house was located on the site of Rathcoole House. The site is located within the zone of archaeological potential for Rathcoole. The present Church of Ireland church, which occupies the site of a medieval parish church, adjoins the grounds of Rathcoole House to the west.

The ground surrounding Rathcoole House was reduced by 2m and a layer of hard core was laid across the site. The upper horizon measured 1m in depth and comprised a mixture of rubble and topsoil. It was derived partly from spoil dumped on the site from various adjacent construction projects. The underlying horizon was a yellow brown clay subsoil. Approx. 1m of the subsoil was removed from the area of the site. A concrete roadway (7m wide) was recorded adjacent to the south-west boundary (the graveyard wall) of the site. It overlay a layer of brick which were laid directly on the subsoil.

Two medieval pits were recorded to the west of the house. They were located 8.8m apart. The largest of the pits, C.5, measured 2m by 1.2m by 0.8m in depth. It was stone-lined and contained 4 fills. A total of 3 sherds of Dublin-type ware were recovered from the fills. The second pit was more shallow (1m x 2.1m x 0.35m) and only partially stone-lined. 2 sherds of Dublin-type ware and 3 sherds of Leinster Cooking ware and a ceramic crucible were recovered from the fills. The pottery was examined by Claire McCutcheon. It dates to the 13th century with 2 jugs and a cooking jar represented. The evidence from the small excavation of two pits in the grounds of Rathcoole House suggests that the area originally formed part of an Anglo-Norman burgage plot.