2024:693 - Tay Lane, Rathcoole, Dublin

Excavations were carried out in fulfilment of a condition attached to Planning by South Dublin County Council. Test trenching was required in order to locate the monument and inform the requested Conservation Management Plan to ensure its preservation in situ. Test excavations were also recommended by an Archaeological Desk Based Assessment (Flynn, 2022).
The site is located within the zone of notification for the Settlement cluster DU021-030008- and contains a monument listed in the Record of Monuments and Places as a Ritual site – holy well DU021-030004-. The well is recorded within the north-western portion of the site and depicted as St Bridget’s Well on the 1843 and 1909 maps. The SMR file notes that the monument was filled by the Local Authority with no visible surface remains present. The monument could not be located during a previous site visit. A little basin was located along Tay Lane and was known locally as St Bridget’s Well, but it is no longer present. However, based on the examined mapping and the SMR description, the water was piped from the well into a little basin on the roadside. The well itself is registered as located in the north-west corner of the site but has no surface expression. There are no Protected Structures as listed in the South Dublin County Development Plan 2022-2028 or sites listed in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) located within the site. However, the site is adjacent to and north of the Architectural Conservation Area of Rathcoole (ACA001) and the plot with Rectory/Glebe House (RPS Ref. No. 313; NIAH Reg No. 11213013). The examined aerial imagery suggests that the southern portion of the site was used as a yard with areas gravelled and under concrete. A small dwelling within the north-east corner of the site that can be seen on an 1995 aerial photograph is since demolished. The site is overgrown.
Seven test trenches were mechanically excavated by a 13-ton mechanical excavator in October 2024 and were monitored at all times. These trenches targeted both the footprint of the proposed development as well as the expected location of the holy well. One trench at the western end of the site (Trench 4) could not be dug due to the presence of new concrete foundations. This also impacted the length of Trench 1 at the north end of the site.

The programme of test trenches found that most of the site had been previously disturbed with many areas containing pits of modern domestic and construction waste. Trench 7 at the south end was found to contain a modern plastic drainpipe with an associated trench orientated east-west.
Trench 8 targeted the location of the holy well (DU021-030004). However, no trace of the well was found. Similar to the rest of the site, it was evident that the ground had been subject to previous disturbances in the recent past.
No archaeological deposits or features were found on the site, and no further mitigation is required for the north, south and east sides of the site. However, it is recommended that an area at the west end (around Trenches 8 and 5) be archaeologically monitored should the holy well exist outside of the excavated trench area.