2017:483 - Rathbride Road, Kildare, Kildare

A programme of test-trenching was carried out on a proposed development site off the Rathbride Road, north of Kildare town. The site is located at the edge of the residential development north of Kildare town, on the western side of the Rathbride Road. 25 trenches and 5 engineering trial pits were excavated over four fields covering c. 10% of the total site area. 58 potential archaeological features were identified and tested. 45 of these have been interpreted as modern features, post-medieval agricultural features, or as variations in the natural subsoil. 13 of the features are interpreted as archaeological or as probably archaeological.

One of the primary aims of the desktop study and testing programme was to assess whether there was any evidence that the Curragh prehistoric funerary/ritual complex extended into the Study Area. Analysis of cartographic, aerial photograph and satellite imagery did not indicate the presence of any funerary monuments. The testing programme found no human remains, and none of the archaeological features identified corresponded morphologically to a ring ditch or barrow (the most common of the Curragh monument types). One pit contained burnt bone, but this was associated with an animal tooth and an iron nail, and may not represent a human cremation burial.

A cluster of archaeological features are likely to represent a prehistoric (perhaps Iron Age) or Early Medieval settlement or agricultural-processing activity at the edges of the Curragh ritual landscape. There are no surface traces of this site. There is no indication of an enclosure ditch, and the archaeological activity may represent temporary habitation/use rather than a permanent settlement. Nevertheless, excavation of the remains could provide important information on the use of the Curragh in later prehistoric times and into the early medieval period.

No evidence for medieval activity was identified on the site, and it is likely that the Study Area was primarily agricultural land by the end of the medieval period. Numerous agricultural features were identified during the testing programme, indicating multiple phases of cultivation, as opposed to simply pasture. The Study Area appears to have been referred to as a parcel of land called ‘Cloghgarret and Farrincooley’ in the 17th century in an inventory of the holdings of the Earl of Kildare, and was sandwiched between church-owned lands to the north and south. The field boundaries in the Study Area are typical of Kildare’s Agricultural Hinterland, comprising post-medieval bank and treelines.

Archaeology Plan, 32 Fitzwilliam Place Dublin 2