Enclosure in Portmarnock

A residential development has been completed where the monument stood. Nothing remains. Entirely removed by excavation under licence 19E0303 in advance of development. The site was fully excavated under licence ref. 19E0303. Excavation carried out pre-planning. The results of the excavation were summarised by Gill McLoughlin as follows; 'A ditched enclosure excavated in advance of a residential development (Phase 1C, 19E0303). It 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 course of the outer enclosure was irregular, particularly on the western and southern sides and could be described as serpentine in layout. While it was in general a small ditch averaging 1.32m wide x 0.51m deep for the most part, a 15m stretch of the ditch to the northeast was more substantial, measuring up to 2.6m wide x 1.1m deep. It was also deeper than average around a possible entrance feature to the south where it was up to 0.95m deep approaching the terminals either side of a shallow causeway. The inner enclosure was slightly sub-circular or oval in plan and measured up to 3.2m wide x 1.41m deep and there was no evidence for an entrance. In general, the ditch was shallowest to the east, an area that also contained substantial deposits of seashell. The animal bone assemblage recovered from Portmarnock 1C was much smaller than that recovered from the two nearby excavated sites of Portmarnock 1A (DU015-0153----) and 1B (DU015-154001-) (16E0101 & 16E0613) and may suggest a different use to the other enclosures. However, like sites 1A and 1B (DU015-154001-), cattle dominated the assemblage, representing over half (59% by MNI), which is relatively high when compared to contemporary sites and may be an indication of feasting. Two other sub-surface ditched enclosures (DU015-153----/014001-) have also been excavated in the same field in 2016 and 2017 by this author, approx. 150m to the northwest and 200m to the north (16E0101, Phase 1A and 16E0613, Phase 1B respectively). These monuments dated predominantly to the late Iron Age/early medieval transition and the early medieval period, although there were indications through scientific dating and individual finds that there was also a presence in this area during the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age. 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. An additional enclosure in Maynetown (DU015-055----) 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 cluster of sites, as being part of a possible assembly landscape' (McLoughlin 2022). See attached photographs and plan of site courtesy of and © Gill McLoughlin of Courtney Deery Heritage Consultancy Ltd. McLoughlin, G. 2022 Final Archaeological Excavation Report, Station Road, Portmarnock, Phase 1C. Unpublished archaeological report licence No. 19E0303 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: 21 June 2023