EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Dublin
Structure 3 measured 9.4m by 5.3m and was the southernmost of all the buildings. The surviving
features included a doorway and an internal partition while a metalled surface was also present
outside the north-eastern corner. The partition divided the building into two rooms and the doorway
was visible in the southern gable wall. The only finds were a decorated bronze strap and a piece of
blue glass which were associated with the metalled area.
Further features within the enclosure included a cereal-drying kiln and a rectangular pit. The latter
produced animal bone, a ringed pin, a pronged, socketed object, a domed bronze stud, a decorated
whale-bone plaque, iron objects, iron slag, bronze fragments, and a sherd of coarse pottery. The
whale-bone plaque dates to the second half of the ninth century so it appears that the pit was
contemporary with Structure 1.
The morphology of the structures, the radiocarbon dates and the whale-bone plaque indicate a
potential rural Scandinavian settlement at Cherrywood and interestingly, a former local cemetery was
chosen as a place of settlement. Historical accounts indicate that the area was targeted by second
generation Scandinavian raiders, while there was a tendency amongst Scandinavians to settle at or
near monastic sites and Tully church is located near the site.
Fig. 106: Plan of cemetery at Cherrywood, Co. Dublin (after Ó Néill 2006, 68).
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