2025:553 - The Shambles, New Ross, Wexford
County: Wexford
Site name: The Shambles, New Ross
Sites and Monuments Record No.: WX029-013
Licence number: 24E0811
Author: Yvonne Whitty
Author/Organisation Address: Unit 10, Riverside Business Centre, Tinahley, Co. Wicklow
Site type: Historic town
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 671877m, N 627624m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.395425, -6.943886
Archaeological monitoring was undertaken at The Shambles, New Ross, Co. Wexford, in advance of and during public realm improvement works carried out by Wexford County Council. The site lies within the Zone of Archaeological Potential for the historic town of New Ross (RMP WX029-013) and within the curtilage of a Recorded Protected Structure (RPS NR0042).
Monitoring took place intermittently between July 2024 and 2025 during removal of modern surfaces, limited ground reduction, service installation and conservation works to standing masonry.
The principal archaeological feature identified was a substantial high medieval masonry wall (C3), measuring 1.1m in width and constructed of thinly bedded laminated slate bonded with yellow sandy lime mortar. The wall incorporated a framed opening defined by vertically set Dundry limestone jamb stones. A sherd of 13th-century Wexford-type ware recovered from an associated deposit (C9) provides secure dating evidence for this phase and confirms medieval occupation at the site.
Subsequent phases of alteration included blocking of the medieval opening, construction of a substantial west wall complex (C11–C13), later internal subdivision (C15), and a late 18th–19th-century demolition/levelling deposit (C8/C2) associated with redevelopment of the site as a meat market. The west wall displays architectural features including a projecting plinth and first-floor fireplace. Its scale and spatial correspondence to the “Jail” or Bridewell depicted on the Anglesea Estate Map of c.1700 raise the possibility that elements of this masonry relate to this building, although this association remains interpretative. This wall was not impacted by the development and was repointed in lime mortar.
The medieval wall was fully recorded and preserved in situ beneath raised ground levels in accordance with agreed mitigation measures.
The monitoring confirms the survival of substantial medieval and later structural remains within this sector of the historic town.