Metalworking site in Portmarnock

A residential development has been completed where the monument stood. Nothing remains. Entirely removed by excavation under licence 16E0613 in advance of development. The results of this excavation were summarised by Gill McLoughlin as follows; 'The excavation comprised the remains of a large sub‐surface ditched enclosure (DU015‐014001-) adjacent to the upstanding Portmarnock mound (DU015‐014----), east of the railway line at Portmarnock and south of Station Road. The archaeological excavation took place over fourteen weeks from the 9th January 2017 with a team of ten archaeologists and six general operatives. Excavation at the site followed previous archaeological monitoring and excavation in relation to Phase 1A of a permitted development immediately to the west of the enclosure site (Planning Ref. F13A/0248). The excavation that is the subject of this report is referred to as Phase 1B (Area 3). During the phase 1A archaeological investigations targeted testing was carried out on the phase 1B enclosure to confirm its existence and its nature and extent. The enclosure 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. Smithing heath C138 - C138 was a small pit located in the south of the enclosure, c.6m north‐east of burial C151 [DU015-014003-]. It was roughly circular in plan and measured 0.82m by 0.78 and was 0.38m deep. The pit contained two fills. The basal fill was a moderately compacted grey sandy clay 0.32m deep with occasional charcoal, sea shell and slag inclusions (C145). Above this was a layer of dark grey sandy clay 0.27m deep with inclusions of charcoal, burnt bone, burnt stone, seashell, slag, flint and medieval pottery (C139). The pottery recovered from C139 was two sherds of Dublin‐type ware (McCutcheon, Appendix 5.2) and it is likely to have found its way into the upper fill of this pit as a result of modern disturbance. The single piece of flint recovered from fill C139 was a burnt and shattered flint flake fragment (16E0613:219) (Weadick, Appendix 5.5). The slag retrieved from fill C145 comprised ten fragments of irregular dense slag, some with embedded flake hammerscale and charcoal (113g) and flake hammerscale was also present in a soil sample of this fill. The slag recovered from fill C139 comprised eight pieces of light to dense slag (76g), all irregular, except one which shows distinct flow structure. The presence of both slag and hammerscale in this pit indicates that the feature was used as a smithing hearth (Rondelez, Appendix 5.7). A sample from pit C138 was selected for environmental analysis, from the basal fill C145. Charred plant remains comprised a single barley and a single wheat grain which would have found their way into the fill from nearby kilning activities. The small quantity of charcoal retrieved was dominated by ash, followed by pomaceous woods (Lyons, Appendix 5.9).' (McLoughlin 2019, 24). See attached photographs and plan of site courtesy of and © Gill McLoughlin of Courtney Deery Heritage Consultancy Ltd. McLoughlin, G. 2019 Final Archaeological Excavation Report, Station Road, Portmarnock, 16E0613. Unpublished archaeological report submitted by Courtney Deery Heritage Consultancy Ltd. to the National Monuments Service on behalf of Sherman Oaks Ltd. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Gill McLoughlin of Deery Heritage Consultancy Ltd Date of upload: 21 June 2023