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Kildare
Killickaweeny, Co. Kildare
Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure
Grid Ref: N83854067 (283859/240679)
SMR No: N/A
Excavation Licence: 02E1002
Excavation Duration/Year: July – November 2002.
Site Director: F. Walsh (Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd.)
Killickaweeny – excavated in advance of a road scheme – was a large early medieval D-
shaped settlement enclosure which dated between the eighth and tenth centuries. Four early
medieval buildings, with associated structures, pits, hearths and a well, were identified within
the enclosure, while a smaller enclosure slightly pre-dated it to the north (Fig. 187). The
settlement was situated on a north-facing slope, at 120m OD, with a relatively sharp incline.
It was also located close to the border between counties’ Kildare and Meath which probably
collates to the former boundary between the kingdoms of Brega and Leinster during the early
middle-ages.
The farmstead at Killickaweeny 1 was defined within a large enclosure (Ditch A). Two earlier
ditches (B and C) were associated with the primary stages of the site’s development,
preceding the main occupation phase. These ditches were located towards the northeastern
side of the site. Ditch B represented an earlier phase of the enclosure, forming a precursor to
Ditch A, while Ditch C formed an annex to Ditch B. Little evidence of occupation was
revealed, either within the fills of this ditch or within the annex that it defined, and it is
unlikely that much domestic activity took place here. This ‘annex’ may have been a
designated enclosure for cattle in the early phases of the site’s development. Both of these
ditches were stratigraphically earlier than Ditch A, which cut through the fills of both Ditch B
and Ditch C. Charcoal from an upper fill of Ditch B returned a date of A.D. 569–782. Finds
within it included two iron knives.
The main enclosing ditch (Ditch A) measured 60m by 80m. The ditch was approximately
2.5m wide and 1.2m deep. The eastern section of the ditch was disturbed by a later
boundary ditch and it is possible the entrance was located in this area. Finds within the ditch
included a possible awl, two red deer antler picks, two wooden staves and a lid or base. A
lack of features internally within 3m of the ditch suggests the former presence of a bank.
Features within the settlement enclosure included four buildings (Structures 1-4), an
ironworking area, an internal linear gully which formed a division within the enclosure, and a
number of pits, hearths and gullies.
Structure I was a circular house and was defined by an arc of packed postholes to the north
and south of a central hearth. If continuous, the structure would have measured 6m northsouth
by 5m east-west. Stake-holes were evident around the hearth and may have supported
a series of spits used for cooking. Pits, containing refuse such as hearth clearance deposits
and animal bone, were situated beside the house. These were dated between the mid
seventh and late ninth centuries and it is likely that they were contemporary with the use of
the house. Artefacts from the pits included four scroll-headed pins, which likely date between
the seventh and tenth centuries, iron knives, possible weaving tensioners, a copper alloy wire
pin, a nail-type object, a glass bead, a stone and a bone spindle-whorl, a whetstone, and
fragments of bone combs.
Another building, this time sub-rectangular in plan, was situated to the west of the round
house. Structure II measured 9m southwest–northeast by 7m southeast–northwest and was
defined by a gully that would have supported a wall. It was entered at the southeast and a
hearth was centrally placed. Three stone-packed postholes within the interior formerly
supported roof supports. Charcoal from one of the postholes was dated to A.D. 673-897. An
iron slotted-and-pointed object was retrieved from the structure’s abandonment fill. A series
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