County: Dublin Site name: Kilshane
Sites and Monuments Record No.: n/a Licence number: 22E0045
Author: Gill McLoughlin
Site type: Three ditched enclosures, prehistoric & early medieval
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 709990m, N 742750m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.423381, -6.345119
Geophysical survey carried out in advance of testing identified a possible D-shaped enclosure and adjacent sub-circular enclosure which appeared to be associated. At both the eastern and western extents of the survey area there were also responses indicative of rectilinear enclosures. Testing confirmed the presence of the four enclosures indicated in the geophysical survey and that they were of archaeological interest. The most easterly of the four enclosures was excavated under licence reference 21E0580, with the other three enclosures being excavated under licence reference 22E0045.
The archaeological excavation took place over three months from February 2022 to May 2022 with a team of up to 19 archaeologists.
Site A comprised a sub-rectangular ditched enclosure which extended northward beyond the development area. The enclosure measured 39m east-west x 45m and the ditch was on average 2.13m wide and 0.66m deep and was substantially wider and deeper in the southern extent on both sides of the entrance. The fills of the ditch were largely sterile, with very occasional charcoal and animal bone inclusions and a moderate quantity of metallurgical waste in the form of slag.
Finds were scarce, but those that were recovered provide evidence of personal adornment (two glass beads) and domestic activities (fragments of a spindle whorl). A copper-alloy boss recovered from one of the pits may be from a harness or shield, perhaps attached to leather.
Site B was located 60m to the east of Site A, and comprised two ditched enclosures, one D-shaped and one sub-circular in plan, measuring 27m and 26m in internal diameter respectively. The D-shaped enclosure ditch measured 1.17m wide and 0.58m deep and had an entrance facing east, towards the sub-circular enclosure. The fills of the enclosure ditch contained very scarce amounts of charcoal and no other dateable material or finds.
The sub-circular enclosure ditch measured a maximum of 1.65m wide and 0.52m deep and two entrances were present, facing west and east. The fills contained scarce amounts of charcoal and a small number of sherds of middle/later Bronze Age pottery were recovered from the enclosure ditch to the north-east.
Radiocarbon dating for Site A places the site firmly in the early medieval period, with date ranges from the 5th – 9th Centuries and the majority of the dates falling in the 7th – 9th Century range. The dateable finds recovered from the sub-circular enclosure on Site B indicated a date in the middle/late Bronze Age and radiocarbon dating of a sample from the same fill as the pottery returned an early Bronze Age date (1920-1744 BC), so on balance the Site B enclosures are likely early/mid Bronze Age and it is probable that the Site B D-shaped enclosure also dates to that period.
c/o Courtney Deery Heritage Consultancy, Lynwood House, Ballinteer Road, Dublin 16
