County: Dublin Site name: Drumanagh
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DU008-006001 Licence number: C786/E004805
Author: Christine Baker
Site type: Promontory fort
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 726909m, N 755903m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.538398, -6.085489
A two-day programme of augering in advance of fence installation was undertaken by Ger Dowling and Gary Devlin, Discovery Programme and Christine Baker, Fingal County Council on 25 and 26 January 2017. A total of 56 auger holes were excavated; thirty-six along the external boundary of the site, nine along the north-west boundary, and ten on the site of the kissing gates. An ‘auto mechanical post hole borer’ with a 0.2m diameter was used and the location of the auger holes recorded using a Trimble 5800 RTK Global Positioning System. Augering was undertaken at approximately 2m intervals along the proposed fence line (or where accessible) and the footprint of the kissing gates in order to establish the depth of stratigraphy in these areas. In practice the auger could not penetrate subsoil and a random sample of the auger holes were further excavated by hand to ensure that bedrock would not be encountered. Depths ranged from 0.15-0.65m and all auger holes were backfilled.
The demolition of the derelict building and removal of detritus in the south-west quadrant of the site was monitored on 9 March 2017. The overgrown disused cattle shed covered an area of approximately 16m north-south x 14m, and was defined by concrete breeze block wall up to 1.9m in height along the west, north and south and some internal wooden posts. To the south was dumped material over an area of c. 10m north-south x 15m, including a burnt-out car, domestic rubbish, motorbike and boat parts. The concrete walls were knocked contiguous with ground level. The ground had been dug away along its northern limit over 10m east-west to a maximum depth of 0.3m to create a level surface. There was no slab present.
One of the boundary stones related to the Martello tower was discovered along the northern limit of the cow shed, having been re-used as a step. The boundary stone measures 1.96m in length and consists of cut granite with a pyramidal top. The upper 1m has been faced and measured 0.3m in width with arrows carved on the two visible faces. The lower portion of the stone was rough narrowing towards the base to aid insertion into the ground.
No artefacts or soil horizons of archaeological significance were identified during the augering or fencing. A high level of modern disturbance was evident, particularly along the north-western and southern boundaries. Fencing was installed successfully along the southern and north-western boundaries that will hopefully protect the site from the detrimental effects of unauthorised motorbike scrambling.
Community Archaeologist, Fingal County Council
