County: Kildare Site name: Milltown
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 22E0178
Author: Alan Hawkes (for Maurice F. Hurley)
Site type: Testing (Enclosures)
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 665515m, N 696267m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.013091, -7.023679
Archaeological test-trenching and limited excavation was carried out over a number of potential archaeological features imaged by a geophysical survey within the townland of Milltown, Co. Kildare. The work was undertaken in advance of a ground-mounted solar farm which required compliance with a condition of planning permission. The main objective was to verify the presence of two large ditched enclosures discovered by the aforementioned survey (Licence 21R0293).
The test excavation confirmed the presence of two archaeological sites; one can be interpreted as a ditched enclosure over c.80m in diameter with an external bank, now backfilled into the ditch leaving no upstanding physical remains. The top of the ditch ranges in width from 3.5-3.9m and is 1.2-1.4m deep. No artifacts were recovered from the excavated sections or any charcoal for scientific dating; therefore providing a date for the enclosure is difficult.
The other site, located c.100m further south, is confirmed by the test excavation to be the remains of a large palisade enclosure, broadly sub-rectangular/oval in shape and measuring 135m north-south by at least 60m. Although the excavation was limited, the enclosure appears to be defined by a large shallow palisade trench, into which rows of vertically set posts were placed at equal distances apart. No finds were recovered from the excavated features.
6 Endsleigh Estate, Carrigaline, Cork.
