County: Kildare Site name: Dunnstown
Sites and Monuments Record No.: KD024-050001, KD024-050002, KD024-050003, KD024-050004, KD024-050005, KD024-050006 Licence number: 21E0825
Author: Marion Sutton & Thaddeus Breen; Shanarc Archaeology Ltd.
Site type: Enclosure grouping
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 687486m, N 712646m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.157118, -6.691888
Archaeological test excavations were carried out in response to a request for further information by Kildare County Council under planning reference 21/1371 relating to the development of a synchronous condenser support facility adjacent to the existing Dunnstown Electricity Station.
The northern portion of the site is located within the zone of notification (Zone ID: R147856) for enclosure grouping KD024-050001 to KD024-050006.
A geophysical survey at the site was previously carried out by Shanarc Archaeology Ltd. under prospection licence 21R0211 and produced evidence for a number of potential archaeological features.
A total of seven targeted test trenches were excavated across the site. Trenches measured between 70-82m in length and 1.6m in width and varied in depth from 0.3-0.8m. Excavated material consisted of c.0.3m of grey-brown topsoil overlying light yellow-brown subsoil. A ditch, possibly an old field boundary, was exposed at the western end of Trenches 2-7.
A small pit feature was exposed at the east end of Trench 3; the pit was sited just outside the northern extent of the geophysical survey area; no other pits correlating with the small anomalies of archaeological potential in the interpreted geophysical survey results were identified during testing.
Unit 39A, Hebron Business Park, Hebron Road, Kilkenny
