County: Dublin Site name: Clondalkin round tower, Tower Road/Old Nangor Road/1–3 Millview Terrace, Clondalkin
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DU017-04106 Licence number: E004609 (C256)
Author: Judith Carroll, Judith Carroll and Company
Site type: Medieval habitation site
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 706886m, N 731437m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.322390, -6.395625
Monitoring of engineers' test pits and soil stripping took place (for this year - the project is ongoing) between May and December 2015 in the vicinity of the round tower at Clondalkin, in advance of the proposed development of an interpretative centre at the site. The site is located at the junction of Tower Road and the Old Nangor Road in Clondalkin, Dublin 22. The development will encompass the front and back garden spaces of nos 1–3 Millview Terrace, a row of three dwellings from the early 19th century registered as protected structures in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH). The round tower itself is located at the south-east corner of the development site. This is a Recorded Monument (DU017-04106) and a National Monument in State Care (Nat. Mon. No. 32).
The proposed development comprises the construction of an interpretative centre in Area 1 of the site, formerly the back garden space of Millview Terrace. Area 2, the former front garden space of the terrace will be restored as an open lawn area to enhance the refurbished frontage of the terrace, and will not be impacted upon by new construction work. Earlier plans to develop the site resulted in a number of test trench investigations, between 2001 and 2008. The testing revealed something of the archaeological potential of the site. A trial-pit dug in 2003 produced a sherd of medieval cooking ware (Opie 2006). Test trenching the following year produced another 37 sherds of medieval pottery, although most were uncontexted; five sherds were from a spread that may represent the remains of a pit (Opie 2007). Testing in 2007 was more productive, exposing the remains of a number of pits and two linear features. One of the pits contained sherds of late medieval pottery, and a sherd of medieval pottery was found in another pit (Laidlaw 2007). Further work on the site in 2008 identified the remains of a ditch and an L-shaped feature, both of which produced medieval pottery, and a ring-pin was found in the latter. Two pits contained further sherds of medieval pottery (Laidlaw 2008). No medieval pottery was located during monitoring works in 2015 however.
Between May and July 2015 monitoring of engineers' test pits took place. A metal detector was used to examine all spoil. Between September and November 2015 the site was prepared for hand excavation by the mechanical stripping of topsoil under supervision. A metal detector was again used. The stripping of topsoil for Area 1, in the back garden space, c. 35m (north-south) by c. 33m, of Millview Terrace, was carried out during this period. Post-medieval pottery and glass were recovered during the soil stripping. Monitoring and excavation will be ongoing.
References:
Laidlaw, G. 2007. 2007: 446–Clondalkin, Dublin. www.excavations.ie Database of Irish Excavation Reports.
Laidlaw, G. 2008. 2008: 382–Clondalkin, Dublin. www.excavations.ie Database of Irish Excavation Reports.
Opie, H. 2006 Tower Road and Old Nangor Road, Clondalkin. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2003, 113. Wordwell, Bray.
Opie, H. 2007 Tower Road/Old Nangor Road, Clondalkin. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2004, 104. Wordwell, Dublin.
Ballybrack Road, Glencullen, Dublin 18
