County: Dublin Site name: Tobertown, Grange & Fortyacres
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DU004-001; DU001-008 Licence number: 23E0174
Author: Liam Coen c/o Courtney Deery Heritage Consultancy
Site type: Testing, various site types
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 716400m, N 763400m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.607494, -6.241057
Test excavations took place on a site over two phases in 2023. The site was located within the townlands of Grange, Tobertown and Fortyacres in north County Dublin and comprised of a series of arable and pasture fields. The purpose of the programme of archaeological testing was to establish if anomalies identified through geophysical survey (Bird & Young, 2023, Licence no. 22R0374) were archaeological and if so, the nature, extent and character of any remains. Trenches were also excavated in surveyed areas that recorded no geophysical anomalies in order to establish a baseline and to test the veracity of the geophysical results.
Assessment revealed 17 archaeological sites, 15 of which were previously unknown and two of which are Recorded Monuments (RMP/SMR sites). The archaeological sites represent both prehistoric and medieval activity with some revealing features from both periods. The sites comprise three early medieval enclosures, one of which, in the north of Tobertown, appears quite substantial and another is upstanding (DU004-001); a late medieval moated site; seven undated enclosures of archaeological origin, some of which are likely to be ring-ditches; five ring-ditches, one of which contained three Bronze Age decorated pottery vessels; an isolated pit; the location of a 16th/17th-century house (DU001-008); and a probable kiln.
References:
Bird, C. & Young, T.2023. ‘Interim Geophysical Survey Report. Archaeological Magnetic Gradiometry Survey. Land near Stamullen, County Dublin, Licence no. 22R0374’. Unpublished report prepared by TerraDAT UK
Lynwood House, Ballinteer, Dublin 16
