2025:335 - SHANGANAGH, Dublin

The works included monitoring of ground reduction for a large residential development within the historic demesne of Shanganagh Castle. Shanganagh Castle is a 19th-century residence located outside the development to the east. Shanganagh estate was acquired by the Roberts family in the early 18th century and occupied a large area of the lands of the development. The estate lands swept from Old Connaught to Shanganagh Castle and towards Loughlinstown River at Shanganagh Bridge. The core of the present structure dates from c.1760 when a plain classical residence was constructed. It is annotated as ‘Shanaugh [of] Roberts Esquire’ by Taylor and Skinner (1778). The family carried out extensive improvements and planting on their land around Shanganagh Castle.
At the start of the 19th century the property was bought by Major-General Sir George Cockburn (1764–1847), who in 1805 commissioned Sir Richard Morrison to remodel the house: the addition of what has been accurately described as ‘a profusion of battlements and turrets’ transformed the place into a ‘fantastical toy fort’ (https://theirishaesthete.com/tag/shanganagh-castle/). General Cockburn was a soldier, writer, traveller and antiquarian. The house was filled with an extensive collection of antiquities and antiques which he had collected in Europe, particularly in Italy but also in Egypt (Pearson 1998). He assembled a substantial collection of inscribed stones (including a marble sarcophagus), brick stamps and tiles, vases, and earthenware lamps, which, on his return to Shanganagh, he arranged in a special room called the ‘Monumental Room.’ The objects in the collection were published by Louis C. Purser of Trinity College Dublin and Olive Purser while they were still in Shanganagh in 1925. Most of the inscriptions were acquired by University College in 1936 when Shanganagh Castle and its contents were sold (www.classicsireland.com). One of the most exotic finds recorded in Shanganagh Castle is an Egyptian stele (an upright pillar with hieroglyphic writing), which had been built into the wall of a ‘museum–conservatory’ (NMI Ref. IA 174/62). The file also mentions a granite altar, presumably also of exotic origin. The estate also connections with the Rowan-Hamilton family including Archibald Rowan Rowan-Hamilton JP (1818-60) and Catherine Anne Rowan-Hamilton (née Caldwell) (1821-1919); and Colonel Gawin William Rowan-Hamilton JP DL (1844-1930), one-time High Sheriff of County Down (fl. 1875). It was sold to the State in c. 1936 when it was extended and used as a College of Education. It was then used as an open juvenile prison from 1969 to 2002.

Archaeological monitoring at the Shanganagh site identified a small number of features of interest, reflecting different phases of activity and land use across the area. One of the most notable finds was a single, isolated pit of uncertain date that contained a small but diagnostic assemblage of prehistoric pottery. This included the sherds of at least three Chalcolithic Beakers, dating to around 2450–2300 BC, and one Early Bronze Age cordoned urn, likely dating to c. 1800–1600 BC. The mix of Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age pottery in the same pit is likely coincidental and not the result of a single prehistoric event. The pottery represents two very different traditions and quite distinct phases of activity, which suggests the pieces didn’t end up there at the same time. There was no evidence in the pit to suggest deliberate prehistoric use—no burning, post-holes, or structured deposits that might indicate a settlement or burial context. Instead, the pottery may have been moved and redeposited through later activity, such as ploughing, landscaping, or even natural soil movement.

Elsewhere on the site, a number of stone-lined French drains and clay-filled drainage ditches were recorded, mainly in the low-lying ground to the west and north of the 19th-century ornamental pond. These features appear to represent at least three distinct phases of drainage management across the site. The earliest of these, likely dating to the early 19th century, are probably associated with estate improvements and landscaping carried out under General Cockburn.

Monitoring also uncovered the basal remains of a curving ditch, aligned north-northeast to south-southwest, which corresponds with the former townland boundary between Shanganagh and Shankill, as shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1843. By the mid-19th century, the boundary no longer appeared to have been visible on the ground and was later cut through by a number of drainage features, including both stone-lined and clay-filled ditches. The presence of a French drain running into the ditch suggests that, although the boundary may have been removed or redefined, the ditch was retained for a time and used as part of the estate’s drainage system. Eventually, this too was superseded by a more formal arrangement of later drainage ditches, which appear to have taken over its function entirely

Although not recovered from their primary context, the prehistoric pottery assemblage—comprising three Chalcolithic Beaker vessels and a single Early Bronze Age cordoned urn—contributes to the growing evidence for prehistoric settlement in south-east County Dublin. These findings support recent discoveries at a site in Corke Little/Shankill to the south, where extensive evidence of prehistoric settlement and ritual activity has also been identified.

References:

National Museum of Ireland, Topographical Files

Pearson, P. (1998). Between the Mountains and the Sea. Dublin. O’Brien Press.

www.classicsireland.com

www.theirishaesthete.com