House - Bronze Age

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture 30m S of a stream and 45m W of a second watercourse. Enclosure (LI039-032----) lies 90m to W. Not depicted on OSi historic mapping. One of 6 features (LI039-172/174/ 175001/175002/176----) identified as (BGE 3/77/27-29) in 2002 by Ken Wiggins (Licence 02E0119) during topsoil-stripping on the Bord Gáis Éireann Pipeline to the West. Possible Bronze Age house excavated in 2002 by Kate Taylor under licence No. 02E0470 when described as one of two ring-gullies that lay just 1m apart. The results of the excavation were summarised as follows; ‘The western one was incomplete, having been truncated by a large and very modern field drain. The surviving structure was an arc of gully forming between one-third and one-half of a circle, continuing into the adjacent field to the south. The gully itself was 0.25–0.4m wide and 0.11–0.18m deep, with an irregular concave profile. A possible terminus was observed at the north-west, although a particularly shallow length at the north-east provided an alternative location for an entrance. A speculative extrapolation of the surviving arc to a full circle indicates that the original internal diameter of the gully may have been c. 3m, enclosing an area of c. 9.5m2. No evidence was observed of internal features such as post-holes. It is likely that the gully either represents a beam-slot to hold the walls of a small house or is a drip gully surrounding a structure constructed by other means. The suggested size of the feature, smaller than the typical range for round houses, seems more appropriate for a slot-trench, possibly holding timber planking. The only item recovered from the gully was a very fragmentary bone (Taylor 2004, 297; Grogan 2007, 237-8)’. Monument has been fully excavated and is not visible on aerial images.

See attached plan of excavated house.

Compiled by: Martin Fitzpatrick

Date of upload: 18 May 2021

References

Grogan, E., O'Donnell, L. and Johnston, P. 2007 The Bronze Age landscapes of the pipeline to the West. Bray. Wordwell.

Halpin, B. 2004 Ballingayrour (BGE 3/77/7-9, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19); Various. In I. Bennett (ed.) Excavations 2002: Summary Accounts of Archaeological Excavations in Ireland, 298-9, No. 1087. Wordwell, Bray.