County: Dublin Site name: Bonnington Hotel, Swords Road, Whitehall, Dublin 9
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 21E0237
Author: Paul Duffy
Site type: Architectural fragments
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 716816m, N 737772m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.377199, -6.244310
Archaeological testing was carried out on the 19th of April 2021. The trenches targeted the site of a former 19th-century burial ground that was purportedly fully exhumed in 1993, in order to confirm that no human remains survive onsite. Testing revealed that the area of the burial ground is heavily disturbed, having been dug out to an average depth of 1.8m below present ground level, presumably relating to the exhumation in 1993. Several large services were subsequently installed across the area including sewerage and drainage pipes.
Test trenching has confirmed that the footprint of the former graveyard has been subject to extensive disturbance in the later 20th century and that it is unlikely that any human remains survive onsite.
Three architectural fragments were recovered from a disturbed land drain (late 19th/early 20th century) during the testing phase. While the possibility that they are medieval in origin cannot be conclusively ruled out, the likelihood is that these are from a gothic revival building of later 19th-century date.
Monitoring of further site works was carried out between July 2021 to June 2022 (21E0237 ext.)
c/o IAC Archaeology, Unit G1 Network Enterprise Park, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow
