A Neolithic House at Kishoge, Co. Dublin

The truncated remains of a burnt wooden house were excavated in Kishoge, Clondalkin, Co. Dublin. The house dates from the Early Neolithic and shares morphological comparison with other Neolithic houses excavated in Ireland. The house was roughly rectangular in plan, although the walls were slightly curved at the southwestern end. It measured 6.05m long (northeast-southwest) and 4.50m wide (northwest-southeast) and was almost exclusively built from oak (posts and planks). The foundation trenches at the northeastern end of the house originally housed upright timber planks that formed the house walls. The southwestern end of the house was predominantly post-built. Entrances were located in the northeastern and southwestern walls. Two internal timber roof supports suggested an internal division. The building appears to have burnt down in antiquity, no occupation surfaces survived in the house. Pits and charcoal were identified around the building. A small number of artefactual finds (crude round scrapers and waste flint) were retrieved from these features. The features represent contemporary domestic activity that occurred around the dwelling, however a single, poorly preserved fragment of Middle Bronze Age pottery was retrieved from a pit that post-dated the house.