2020:411 - Brennanstown and Laughanstown, Dublin

The test area comprised overgrown former tillage in Brennanstown and Laughanstown bordered by the newly-constructed Castle Street to the west, Barrington’s Road to the north, and crossed on a north-east/south-west axis by Gun and Drum Hill. Tully Park (and Tully Church) border the site to the immediate south and Lehaunstown Lane (and Lehaunstown Castle) form the eastern boundary.
Until recent years the majority of the area was under crop and subject to annual deep ploughing. A demolished warehouse and associated external hard-standing along with two modern buildings are located within the area.
The northern part of the area had been partially disturbed by the construction of the Luas and Cherrywood Phase 1 roads and infrastructure and a number of sites of archaeological significance had been identified and excavated previously. The wider landscape has been the subject of a series of archaeological investigations since the late 1990s.

Archaeological testing was carried out from 26 May to 9 June 2020. The layout of test trenches was designed to investigate the potential of geophysical anomalies identified from a previous survey of the site. Testing revealed limited archaeological remains within the test area as well as identifying some non-archaeological features.
Metal detecting was carried out throughout the course of testing. Trench locations were subject to detection prior to excavation and all spoil excavated was also detected, along with the surface of the excavated trench. Topsoil finds were recovered from a number of trenches but none were deemed to be of archaeological significance.
Test trenching resolved many of the geophysical anomalies as being related to variations in subsoil.
Archaeological Area 1 in Plot T3 and a small number of topsoil finds elsewhere indicate evidence of (relatively ephemeral) prehistoric activity, possibly Bronze Age in date, similar to evidence uncovered during other archaeological investigations of the immediate vicinity.
Evidence for scrub clearance, in the form of burning of tree roots and fire-reddened soil, was found in trenches across the site. This may have been a single, deliberate, event indicating landscape clearance or could have been due to wild fire(s). It is likely that further areas of burning would be uncovered during topsoil clearance.
Despite the proximity of the substantial medieval ecclesiastical complex at Tully Church to the immediate south of the area tested, no related features and only a small number of sherds of medieval pottery (mainly Dublin-type wares) were recovered. Almost all came from the areas adjoining the Tully Church complex.
A series of drainage features in the south-western part of the site could be related to development of the lands surrounding nearby Lehaunstown Castle (DU026-093), a tower-house of late medieval date which was subsequently incorporated into a large country residence.

For Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd