County: Dublin Site name: Kilgobbin (Clay Farm)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: n/a Licence number: 18E0740 ext
Author: Gill McLoughlin
Site type: Prehistoric pits and postholes
Period/Dating: Bronze Age (2200 BC-801 BC)
ITM: E 719894m, N 724236m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.254922, -6.203189
Archaeological monitoring of all excavation works within the Clay Farm Phase 2 development area commenced in January 2019 and has continued on an intermittent basis through 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and will continue into 2024.
In the south of the Phase 2 development area an informal scatter of twelve pits was identified during monitoring in early 2020 and was subsequently fully excavated (Area 5). The main feature in this area was a sub-rectangular pit measuring 1.4m x 1.1m x 0.23m containing three fills (C60). There was evidence of in-situ burning and the basal fill contained a lot of charcoal. The middle fill was a layer of almost exclusively charcoal and charred branch fragments and the upper fill comprised mid-grey silty sand. This feature had the appearance of a roasting pit.
Three pits in a cluster ranged from a shallow circular pit (C83), a more substantial circular pit which could have functioned as a post-pit (C82) and a larger irregular pit, possibly disturbed by root activity (C72). The remaining eight features were aligned on a rough north-west/south-east orientation and comprised a range of pits and possible post-holes, some of which may also have been disturbed by root activity (C62, C80, C81, C79, C64, C65, C70 and C69).
The pits/post-holes had a random layout and were not indicative of a structure, although a small number of flint and pottery finds recovered from pits C62, C80 and C65 may be indicative of settlement.
Also, in the south of the Phase 2 area, a large sub-circular pit filled with stones was identified during monitoring in 2021 (Area 6, 719817E 724056N). The pit measured c.7m in diameter and between 0.6–1.2m in depth and the mainly granite stones in the fill were loosely deposited in a semi-circular arrangement. The function of the pit was unclear and no dating material was retrieved from a soil sample taken from the fill.
Nothing of archaeological interest was identified during monitoring during 2022 or 2023.
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