Enclosure in Portmarnock

Cropmark of enclosure located SE of a mound (DU015-014----) annotated 'Mote' on Cassini ed. OSi 6-inch map. This enclosure is visible on aerial photographs (Google Earth 17/07/2006; Bing, accessed 31 January 2015) and a test-excavation (Licence no. 07E0574) as part of archaeological investigations of the mound (DU015-014----) were carried out in 2007. It was suggested that the enclosure or cropmark may have served as a bailey for the 'Mote' located to the N (Moriarty C. 2008:477 www.excavations.ie). In 2016 archaeological excavation by Gill McLoughlin of Courtney Deery Heritage Consultancy Ltd under licence No. 16E0613 was carried out on this cropmark and the results were sumarised as follows; 'A residential development has been completed where the monument stood. The northern portion of the monument is preserved in situ within a 20m buffer zone around mound DU015-014, which has been developed as a green space with play area and information signage. The majority of the monument has been removed under excavation licence 16E0613 in advance of development. The line of the enclosure ditch where it is preserved below ground within the buffer zone around mound DU015-014----, is delineated by hard and soft landscaping. The site was visible on aerial photography and was tested (07E0574, Moriarty). Further testing was carried out during the excavation of an adjacent enclosure (16E0101, McLoughlin) and with the exception of the portion preserved in situ with the buffer zone for the mound, full excavation was carried out under licence ref 16E0613. Carried out pre-planning. The Phase 1B enclosure (DU015-014001-, 16E0613) was slightly elliptical or sub-circular in plan and measured a maximum external diameter of 77m east-west x 70m north-south (68m east-west x 60m north-south internal diameter), with an entrance to the east. The ditch cut was substantial, measuring up to 5.5m wide and 1.65m deep. Eight phases of activity were identified at the site, ranging from Mesolithic, early Bronze Age, late Bronze Age, Iron Age, Late Iron Age/early medieval transition, early Medieval (pre c.800 AD, early medieval (post c.800 AD) and modern. The bulk of the activity belonged to the late Iron Age / early medieval transition phases (c.400 – 600 AD). Finds recovered from the enclosure ditch during the excavation include early medieval imported pottery (LRA 1 and E ware), wooden artefacts from the base of the ditch, stone tools and worked antler artefacts. A huge volume of animal bone was recovered from the ditch including cetacean bones, and similar to the nearby Phase 1A enclosure (16E0101) the proportion of cattle was very high and suggestive of feasting. Cereal drying (kilns) and metalworking activity were evident on site and there was one adult male inhumation in the interior of the enclosure (radiocarbon dated to AD 410-607). The excavated portion of this site has now been built on and the northern part of the enclosure is preserved within a 20m buffer zone around the upstanding Portmarnock mound (DU015-014----). Two further enclosures have been excavated in the same field, 130m to the southwest (16E0101, Phase 1A) and 200m to the south (19E0303, Phase 1C). All three enclosures should be interpreted as part of one inter-related group and although the focus of activity may have shifted from one enclosure to another at various times, there certainly does appear to have been some overlap in their use. Another enclosure (DU015-055----) in Maynetown, 550m to the southeast, has also been subjected to targeted testing (22E0509) and also appears to be part of this cluster of associated enclosures. The clustering of enclosures in such a small area, associated with feasting evidence and a general lack of habitation evidence, the presence of some high status & late roman imported finds, a burial and an upstanding mound have led to the interpretation of this this cluster of sites, as being part of a possible assembly landscape' (McLoughlin 2019). See attached photographs and plan of site courtesy of and © Gill McLoughlin of Courtney Deery Heritage Consultancy Ltd. Moriarty, C. 2009 Final Report Archaeological Excavations at Portmarnock Mound (DU015-014----) and the Maynetown enclosure (DU015‐055----), Co. Dublin (Licence No.: 07E0574). Unpublished report prepared by Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd for Ballymore Residential Ltd. McLoughlin, G. 2019 Final Archaeological Excavation Report, Station Road, Portmarnock, Excavation Licence No. 16E0613. Unpublished archaeological report submitted by Courtney Deery Heritage Consultancy Ltd. to the National Monuments Service on behalf of Sherman Oaks Ltd. Nicholls, J. 2002 Geophysical Survey: Baldoyle/Portmarnock Co. Dublin. Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd. Licence No. 02R0020. Compiled by: Christine Baker Revised by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Gill McLoughlin of Courtney Deery Heritage Consultancy Ltd. Date of revised upload: 20 June 2023