Strategic Housing Development Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Desk Study and Archaeological Impact Statement: Proposed Residential Development At Murphystown Way, Dublin 18. EXCAVATION LICENCE NUMBER: 20E0046 LICENSEE: Siobhán Deery Dr Yolande O’ Brien MIAI and Siobhán Deery BA, H-Dip, MA MIAI For Murphystown Land Developments DAC Final Report 15/09/2020 CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Project Brief ...................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Qualifications .................................................................................................................................... 1 1.3. Site Location ..................................................................................................................................... 2 1.4. Development Description ................................................................................................................. 3 1.5. Methodology .................................................................................................................................... 5 1.5.1. Desk Study ........................................................................................................................................ 5 1.5.2. Site Inspection .................................................................................................................................. 6 1.5.3. Test Excavation ................................................................................................................................. 6 2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ............................................................................ 6 2.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 6 2.2. Mesolithic Period (c. 8000-4000BC) ................................................................................................. 7 2.3. Neolithic Period (c. 4000-2400BC) .................................................................................................... 7 2.4. Bronze Age (c. 2400-500BC) ............................................................................................................. 7 2.5. Iron Age (c. 500BC-AD400) ............................................................................................................... 8 2.6. Early Medieval Period (c. AD 400-1200) ........................................................................................... 8 2.7. Medieval Period (c. AD 1200-1700) .................................................................................................. 9 2.8. Post Medieval Period ...................................................................................................................... 11 3. ARCHAEOLOGY .................................................................................................................................... 11 3.1. RMP / SMR Sites ............................................................................................................................. 11 3.2. Archaeological Investigations in the vicinity of the site.................................................................. 13 3.3. Archaeological Investigations in Glencairn & in the vicinity of Murphystown Castle .................... 15 4. CARTOGRAPHIC SOURCES AND AERIAL IMAGERY .............................................................................. 18 4.1. Down Survey (1656-1658) .............................................................................................................. 18 4.2. ‘An Actual Survey of the County of Dublin’, John Rocque (1760) ................................................... 18 4.3. ‘Map of the Environs of Dublin’, John Taylor (1816) ...................................................................... 19 4.4. Ordnance Survey Mapping ............................................................................................................. 20 4.5. Aerial imagery ................................................................................................................................. 22 5. SITE INSPECTION ................................................................................................................................. 23 6. ARCHAEOLOGICAL TESTING SUMMARY RESULTS ............................................................................... 29 7. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................................... 37 7.1. Archaeological Testing .................................................................................................................... 37 7.2. Setting of Murphystown Castle ...................................................................................................... 38 7.3. Area of Archaeological Potential -River Valley ............................................................................... 38 7.4. Cultural Heritage Features .............................................................................................................. 39 8. IMPACTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................. 40 8.1. Archaeology .................................................................................................................................... 40 8.2. Cultural Heritage Features .............................................................................................................. 41 8.3. Cumulative Impact on Archaeology and Cultural Heritage ............................................................ 41 8.4. General ........................................................................................................................................... 41 9. REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................ 43 List of Tables Table 1 Summary of adjacent archaeological investigations ........................................................................ 14 List of Figures Figure 1 Site location ................................................................................................................................... 2 Figure 2 Detail of the proposed development red-line boundary .............................................................. 3 Figure 3 Proposed development layout and landscaping plan (see BSM landscape plans for detail) ........ 4 Figure 4 RMP / SMR sites .......................................................................................................................... 12 Figure 5 Adjacent archaeological investigations ....................................................................................... 13 Figure 6 Down Survey Map of County Dublin (1656-1658) showing approximate site location .............. 18 Figure 7 Rocque map of the County of Dublin (1760) ............................................................................... 19 Figure 8 Taylor’s map of Dublin (1816) ..................................................................................................... 19 Figure 9 First Edition 6-inch Ordnance Survey map (1843), inset of structure within proposed development ............................................................................................................................... 20 Figure 10 Ordnance Survey map of Griffith’s Valuation ............................................................................. 21 Figure 11 First edition 25-inch Ordnance Survey map (1863) ..................................................................... 21 Figure 12 Second edition 25-inch Ordnance Survey map (1908) ................................................................ 22 Figure 13 Ordnance Survey ortho image (2000) ......................................................................................... 23 Figure 14 Ordnance Survey Digital Globe (2011-2013) ............................................................................... 23 Figure 15 Features detected in site inspection ........................................................................................... 24 Figure 16 Test trench layout (inset the test trench layout over the proposed development layout) ........ 30 Figure 17 Test trench layout on Digital Globe (2011-13) showing the disturbed area in Field 1 ................ 31 List of Plates Plate 1 Reconstructed granite ashlar wall associated with the Glencairn entrance portal (inset showing section running along LUAS track), CH1a .................................................................................... 25 Plate 2 Rubble stone boundary wall........................................................................................................ 26 Plate 3 Earthen tree lined bank, CH1b .................................................................................................... 26 Plate 4 View southwest along the southward facing side of the field wall, CH2 .................................... 27 Plate 5 Detail of south facing side of the field wall (note changes in height) ......................................... 27 Plate 6 Lower section of the demesne wall at the easternmost end (northern face) ...........................