County: Dublin Site name: Tully Park, Laughanstown
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DU026-023, DU026-127 Licence number: E004640
Author: David McIlreavy & Maeve Tobin
Site type: Burnt mounds, military camp features
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 723216m, N 723358m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.246275, -6.153771
Testing was carried out under Ministerial Consent (C718, E004640, R000401), between January and April 2016 within the footprint of the proposed Tully Park, at Laughanstown, Co. Dublin, as part of the Cherrywood SDZ. It followed on from recommendations made in a desktop assessment for the development (Tobin 2015) and a geophysical survey (Nicholls 2015, 15R0070). The results were submitted to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council in response to Item 2 of a Request for Further Information (Planning Ref.: DZ15A/0813). The zone of archaeological potential for Tully Church and associated features (DU026-023001–20, National Monuments Refs: 216, 225) is located at the centre of the proposed park and the military camp DU026-127 is adjacent.
Testing was undertaken, in consultation with the National Monuments Service, within the areas of the proposed park footprint that would require ground disturbances – i.e. peripheral access road and the playground/park kiosk area. It was agreed that no investigation would be carried out within the core area of archaeological features as the proposed development would avoid any direct impact. Approximately 10% of the construction footprint was subject to testing (or 2,202.5 linear metres of trenches) to investigate the archaeological potential of geophysical anomalies and the remaining greenfield areas.
Metal detection (Reg.: R000401) identified 37 objects, mostly comprising heavily corroded iron nails and undiagnostic fragments which appeared to be post-medieval or modern in date. Only one item of definitive military origin, a Kildare militia button, was identified dating from the occupation of the adjacent military camp.
This investigation identified four previously unrecorded areas of archaeological significance: AA 1–4. Two of these areas, AA 2 and AA 3, appear to relate to the occupation of the military camp DU026-127. The burnt mound spreads in AA 4 probably date to the Bronze Age and the single hearth and spread in AA1 are not definitively dateable. With the exception of two features (AA 1 and AA 3) all of the investigated geophysical anomalies were identified as geological in origin. Groundworks associated with the proposed access road construction and playground area will have a direct negative impact on the archaeological features in AA 1-4.
IAC Ltd, Unit G1, Network Enterprise Park, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow
