2020:182 - Southgreen Road, Kildare, Kildare

An archaeological excavation was carried out due to the discovery of human remains during works at Southgreen Road, Kildare. Testing of the route of the road was carried out by Donald Murphy and Derek Gallagher of ACSU under licence 19E0009 (Murphy) in February 2019. Testing failed to reveal any deposits or features of an archaeological nature, though some parts of the site were unavailable for testing due to overhead cables. The construction works along the new link road were not archaeologically monitored. Subsequently during earthworks along Southgreen Road, Kildare on 26 September 2019, human remains were encountered in the townland of Kildare by contractors constructing a tie-in between the proposed new South Green Link Road and the existing Southgreen Road. This discovery, which was in the area unavailable for testing in February 2019, was immediately reported to the Gardaí who attended the scene. Following inspection by Gardaí, ACSU were contacted to attend the site and assess whether the remains were of antiquity rather than of recent date.
Initial inspection of the cranial and bone fragments at the site by an ACSU archaeologist determined that the human remains were archaeological in nature and that there was more than one individual present. The discovery of the burial was notified to the National Museum of Ireland and the Coroner. Preservation by record of any archaeological features or deposits, and in particular to conduct full documentation and excavation of human remains was agreed.

The work consisted of excavation of human remains and archaeological features and the monitoring of works during the construction of the Southgreen Link Road. The work was undertaken between 8 October and 15 March 2020. Works were temporarily suspended on site due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The site was secured and all archaeological samples were removed to ACSU head office secure facilities in Drogheda, Co. Louth. The site re-opened on the 5 May 2020 and monitoring of works continued.

This investigation exposed 35 burials (with 36 skeletons) in a mixture of simple and stone-lined graves, all of which had an west–east orientation. These burials were excavated under the direct supervision of osteoarchaeologist Glenn Gibney of ACSU. Three ring-ditches were also excavated though only one (Ring-ditch 2, C11) was complete.

Ring-ditch 2 had opposed entrances to the east and west. There were 3 burials within its confines. There was one burial within the confines of each of Ring-ditches 1 and 3. Ring-ditch 1 had a simple extended adult male inhumation buried with a stone cone gaming piece (19E0009:14:01) with a base diameter of 24mm and height 40mm. A number of other archaeological features were excavated on the site, these included 11 pits, 3 kilns (sub-oval shaped, figure-of-eight shaped and keyhole-shaped in plan) and 3 post-holes. A cluster of pits, post-holes and kilns were located at the northern end of the site in an area measuring roughly 14m east-west by 8m. It is likely that these archaeological features belong to a different phase of activity on the site to that of the burials.

Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co Louth.