Enclosure in Portmarnock

A residential development has been completed where the monument stood. Nothing remains. Entirely removed by excavation under licence 16E0101 in advance of development. The site was identified during monitoring of topsoil stripping related to a housing development and was fully excavated under licence 16E0101. Planning ref. F13A/0248. The results of this excavation were summarised by Gill McLoughlin as follows; 'A large sub-square ditched enclosure (39m x 50m) with an entrance to the north-northeast, dating to the late Iron Age/early medieval period. The general lack of habitation evidence or other activities within the enclosure, supported by the specialist analysis of plant remains and animal bone initially suggested this site functioned as an enclosure for housing livestock, however based on the results of subsequent excavations in the immediate surrounding area, it seems that this enclosure may have been a component of a feasting/gathering site. There was no trace of any structures within the enclosure to indicate domestic or industrial activities. A possible outer enclosure defined by a smaller curvilinear ditch may have enclosed an area to the south of the main enclosure, however during monitoring this ditch did not appear to be of any significance and two sections were excavated and recorded in that area. The fills were sterile and the cut was shallow and no features were evident within this possible outer enclosure. The enclosure ditch varied greatly in its dimensions and ranged from 2m-4.75m in width and 0.8m-2.6m in depth. The ditch fills contained large quantities of animal bone and frequent seashell and at the lower levels of the deepest parts of the ditch, to either side of the entrance terminals, the fills were waterlogged and contained organic material. Finds from these deposits included a wooden hoop made of yew which was fastened with a leather tie. Radiocarbon dating results indicate that the main period of use for the enclosure was between the late 7th - late 9th Centuries, however the dating and layout of an internal curving ditch suggests continuous occupation from the Iron Age at the site. This ditch had an entrance, oriented to the north-northeast which mirrored the main enclosure entrance. The lower fill of the inner ditch returned a date range of cal BC 347-43 placing this feature in the Iron Age, while the upper fill was dated to cal AD 671-868, indicating that the inner ditch was most likely still in use when the outer ditch was constructed. It implies a continuity of occupation at the site from the Iron Age to the early medieval period. The most significant finds associated with the enclosure are a Romano-British socketed iron knife blade and a copper-alloy pin. The pin is a baluster headed example with a spiral ring through the head and a decorated spatula shaped projection beyond the head. Decoration on the pin and head are in the form of dots and the decoration on the spatula shaped projection is engraved interlace. There are very few comparable pins in the record and the decoration makes it unique. According to Fanning (1992, 1994), spiral ringed baluster headed pins are a type that originated in Ireland in the late 4th or early 5th Century AD and are likely to have been made by craftsmen copying Roman or sub-Roman proto types. A large assemblage of animal bone was recovered from the site, mostly from fills of the enclosure ditch and cattle dominated the assemblage, with over 60% of the identified specimens being from this species, which is higher than typical for sites from this period and may be an indication of feasting at the site. The siting of this enclosure so close to the estuary and to several other ditched enclosures in the immediate area may imply a strategic relationship to the estuary, possibly related to the control of trade. Subsequent to the completion of the excavation of this enclosure (Phase 1A), two further enclosures have been excavated in the same field, 130m to the northeast (16E0613, DU015-014001-, Phase 1B) and 150m to the southeast (19E0303, Phase 1C). Another enclosure (DU015-055----) in Maynetown, 600m to the southeast, has also been subjected to targeted testing (22E0509). Finds and dating evidence for the Phase 1B enclosure (DU015-014001-, 16E0613) places the site in the late Iron Age and early medieval period. Finds recovered from the 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 Phase 1A enclosure 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----). The Phase 1C enclosure (19E0303) comprised an inner sub-circular or oval ditched enclosure measuring 36m x 29m and an outer irregular oval ditched enclosure measuring 105m x approx. 71m, the eastern side of which corresponded with the upstanding boundary between Portmarnock and Drumnigh townlands. Radiocarbon dating has indicated that the two enclosures were contemporary, with most of the dates ranging between the mid/late 7th – late 10th Centuries, although there was some evidence that the beginnings of the site may have been during the late Iron Age / early medieval transition. There was also evidence for some activity at the site in the early Bronze Age, in the form of a gully truncated by the outer enclosure ditch, and a late Bronze Age copper-alloy knife blade recovered from the outer ditch represents disturbance of an earlier phase of activity, either at or in the vicinity of the site. A wooden bucket-type vessel made of yew recovered from waterlogged basal fills of the inner ditch returned a radiocarbon date range of AD 652-763. The wooden vessel, along with two tiny bone comb fragments, an iron weaving tensioner, a small amount of iron slag and a tuyere fragment are indications of domestic and small-scale industrial activities at the site. 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'. See attached photographs and plan of site courtesy of and © Gill McLoughlin of Courtney Deery Heritage Consultancy Ltd. Fanning, T. 1992 Ringed Pins, the Hiberno‐Norse and the Discovery of Vinland. Archaeology Ireland Vol.6, No.1 p. 24‐26. McLoughlin, G. 2019 Final Archaeological Excavation Report, Station Road, Portmarnock, Excavation Licence No. 16E0101. 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 Courtney Deery Heritage Consultancy Ltd. Date of upload: 20 June 2023