County: Kildare Site name: Donaghcumper, Celbridge
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 22E0411
Author: James Hession
Site type: Medieval and post-medieval activity
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 697960m, N 733148m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.339488, -6.529026
Archaeological monitoring undertaken in association with the Celbridge Local Network Reinforcement Project (LNRP) identified archaeological features along a section of the pipeline route in Donaghcumper townland, Celbridge, Co. Kildare. The identified features were fully resolved in advance of the pipeline works.
The site was located on the east side of Celbridge, bounded to the north by the Dublin road, to the south by agricultural fields, to the west by a residential house and to the east by the medieval ruins of Donaghcumper Church and graveyard (RMP KD011-013---; KD011-013001-).
The archaeological features were contained within the 2m-wide pipe trench wayleave in this area and consisted of a series of ditches and deposits containing medieval pottery, post-medieval drainage features, a stone-lined pit containing burning and a single post-hole. A number of these features extended beyond the limits of the excavation.
Three main phases of activity were identified at Donaghcumper. The earliest activity occurred in the late 13th to early 15th century. It was represented by three possible ditches and appears to be agricultural in nature, but it could also represent the enclosing elements of a settlement. The second phase of activity comprised three ditches and a pit most likely associated with metalworking. This phase of activity straddled the late medieval to post-medieval periods and involved a change in the layout of the field system/enclosure, in addition to some level of industrial activity having been undertaken at the site. The final phase of activity consisted of the insertion of a new field drainage system and dates to the 17th to 19th century.
A total of 171 pottery sherds, 15 metal artefacts, 13 soil samples, and 13 samples of animal bone were retrieved during the investigations. Four radiocarbon dates were obtained, placing the returned samples in the late medieval period (from the 14th – early 15th century) and the end of the medieval into the post-medieval (from the late 15th – 16th century).
The results from the excavation at Donaghcumper point to medieval settlement and possible industrial activity at the site. Given the proximity of the site to the medieval church of Donaghcumper it is possible that the site is associated with early ecclesiastical settlement in the area.
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