County: Kildare Site name: Greenfield, Maynooth
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 19E0235
Author: Derek Gallagher, Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit
Site type: Ring-ditch/barrow, Bronze Age burial urn, early medieval cereal-drying kiln & inhumation burials
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 694117m, N 736246m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.368018, -6.585792
An archaeological excavation was carried out at a proposed development at Greenfield, Maynooth, Co. Kildare. The site is located in the townlands of Greenfield and Moneycooly, to the south-east of the town of Maynooth, in close proximity to KD010-040 a burial ground, KD010-008 a field system and KD011-061 a furnace. A geophysical survey (17R0009) was previously carried out by Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit Ltd at the site.
Testing of the proposed development was carried out between 23 and 26 April 2019. A total of 17 test trenches were excavated in the areas to be disturbed by the proposed development. The sod and topsoil (C01) measured an average of 0.55m in thickness and lay above the natural orange sandy clay and gravel (C02). A portion of the site was, however, stripped for a proposed new road and one oval ring-ditch (C03) and two inhumation burials (C04 & C05) were identified within this area. Consequently, it was proposed to strip the site under strict archaeological supervision.
The area around the ring-ditch/barrow (C03) and Burials 1–2 (C04–C05) was cleaned by hand using hand tools and all archaeological features, deposits and inhumations identified were fully excavated.
The features uncovered appear to represent a Bronze Age funerary landscape consisting of a barrow (C3), a partially truncated Bronze Age burial urn (19E0235:25:1) and eight possible cremation pits (C29, C31, C34, C37, C40, C42, C45 & C49) identified c.150m to the west.
A possible early medieval cereal-drying kiln (C19 & C20) was also uncovered. A re-cut of the barrow (C53) also likely belongs to this phase. Five inhumation burials (C04, C05, C51, C67 & C69) identified to the north-west of the barrow C3 are also likely to represent a small early medieval burial ground, possibly associated or contemporary with the burial ground identified in 2004 to the north-east in Moneycooly (04E0644; KD010-040).
Unit 21 Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co Louth
