2021:430 - Kilternan, Dublin 18, Dublin

Archaeological testing was carried out to inform an Archaeological Impact Assessment at a 4.52-hectare site at Glenamuck. The site comprised two fields (Fields 1 & 2) and two dwellings, ‘Greenmount’ and ‘Dun Óir’.
A geophysical survey of the lands by Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit Ltd (ACSU) under licence number 20R0172 identified several magnetic anomalies scattered throughout the site, thought to result from smaller features such as kilns, refuse pits or areas of burning. Several dipolar anomalies identified likely represent isolated ferrous anomalies and may represent smaller features of archaeological significance or more modern agricultural debris such as iron objects dispersed throughout and within the subsoil. It also suggests that the anomalies might be natural in origin and represent stone sockets or animal burrows.
Eleven test trenches were opened across the site. The testing confirmed that the soils generally comprised loose light brown sandy silt with rare stone inclusions over a mid- to light yellowy-light brown/tan granite-based sandy silt and gravel subsoil with several embedded granite boulders of various sizes. The anomalies identified in the geophysical survey corresponded with the granite boulders in the trenches and were not of archaeological origin.
Plough furrows, two irregular pits and a circular pit were identified in the south-eastern corner of Field 1. Three straight plough furrows were found 5m from the eastern end of the trench () in a generally disturbed area of Field 1. An area measuring c.5m x 8m north of the trench was opened to investigate them further. The furrows had a north-south orientation and measured c.0.23m deep and 0.45m wide and were spaced 1m apart, suggesting narrow ridges, and ran beneath the trench cutting. A sondage across one of the furrows revealed that it had a U-shaped profile filled with a compact, damp mid-brown sandy silt ([C9]); a single fragment of post-medieval pottery (Blackware) was found in it. The localised area of the furrows, the presence of brick, glass and 19th-century pottery in the topsoil in this general area of the field (and lack of it elsewhere), and the late pottery in the fill suggest that the furrows were most likely associated with small scale 19th-century agricultural activity. Pit was a shallow oval cut (measuring 0.7m x 0.6m x 0.12m deep) with sloping sides and a slightly rounded base. Pit adjacent to was a shallow sub-circular cut (measuring 0.9m x 0.6m x 0.6m deep). Both pits contained a single sterile fill ([C5] and [C7]) of loose light-brown silty sand with no incisions; the lack of compaction in the fill was all that distinguished it from the natural.
Pit located c.0.17m further west was circular (measuring 1.1m in diameter x 0.35m deep) with a rounded base. It was filled with a loose mid-brown silty sand with flecks of decayed stone, also similar to the natural subsoil surrounding it ([C9]).
Little can be said about these features; they were shallow and irregular in plan and had no apparent function. Given the sterile nature of the fills, it is suggested that these are sockets of natural granite boulders that were moved at some point, perhaps during field clearance. A single sherd of North Devon Sgraffito, a single clay pipe shaft and sherds of 19th- and 20th-century ceramics were found in the topsoil in this site area, confined to the rear of the 20th-century houses fronting the Glenamuck Road, possibly confirming the later date of the ridges.
In all incidences, the geophysical anomalies corresponded with variations caused by the natural granite boulders.

Lynwood House, Ballinteer Road, D16