2019:601 - Crodaun, Celbridge, Kildare

Excavation revealed the remains of a large early medieval enclosure occupied over several centuries with external activity such as associated field or enclosure ditches, cereal-drying kilns and an iron-working pit, located in proximity to the main enclosure. This enclosed settlement measured roughly 92m north-south by 61m with an entrance to the north-north-west. The main phases of activity spanned the 7th–11th centuries AD though late medieval activity was indicated by the presence of pottery sherds in the upper enclosure ditch fills. Unfortunately, extensive parts of the enclosure were heavily disturbed by modern activity such as ground works for an adjacent road upgrade scheme in the western quadrant while a tarmacadamed laneway and extant mature field boundary ran through the central portions of the enclosure.
The earliest phase of activity includes a curvilinear ditch representing a smaller enclosure or field boundary to the north of the main settlement enclosure. This is roughly contemporary with the burial of an adult male found dug into the basal fill of the southern arc of the main enclosure ditch. A pit in the interior, one of a cluster of features that survived in the eastern quadrant, is also of this phase. Its upper fill produced a pseudo-penannular ring-brooch, the ring-head decorated with 'Celtic'-style lace motifs with orange enamel set in two recesses. Another cluster of features, including two cereal-drying kilns, located to the east of the main enclosure was also dated to this phase. Material from the skeleton and other features (i.e. ditch, kiln and pit) produced radiocarbon dates from the 7th-9th centuries AD.
Later activity involved a localized recutting of the main enclosure ditch and the gradual in-filling of the enclosure ditches. Charcoal retrieved from this phase produced late 9th–early 11th-century AD radiocarbon dates. Concentric outer ditches along the northern two-thirds of the enclosure appear to have been an attempt to augment the appearance of the enclosure, giving it a bi-vallate element focussed on the entrance and assumed main approach to the settlement.
A final phase of activity is represented by the late medieval pottery sherds that were retrieved from the upper levels of the main enclosure ditch. Other artefacts included a fragment of a lignite bracelet, a stone spindle-whorl, the pin of an iron loop-headed ring-pin, knife blades and nails, amongst others. This array of artefacts alongside the remains of iron-smithing is typical of the period and attests to the range of activities and relative wealth of the inhabitants of the settlement.

Unit 8 Beat Centre, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin