1990:068 - CASTLEDERMOT: Main Street, Kildare

A watching brief was kept during digging of foundation trenches for in-fill housing on Main Street by Kildare Co. Council because the site was located within the precincts of the medieval town of Castledermot. The only feature which needed archaeological excavation was a stone-lined well located immediately outside the line of the rear wall of a building which had previously occupied the site. The internal diameter of the well was 1.2m, depth 4.3m. Several broken lengths of cast iron pipe, manufactured by Fowler and Co. London (manufacturers of ironware in the late 19th century) were recovered from the well, one of which had a flat plate attached. The total length of the pipe recovered was 3.5m. The material at the base of the well consisted of sand and gravel and did not contain any objects of archaeological interest. A piece of red brick lodged behind the stone lining indicated that the well had been dug after the 17th century and the iron bore pipe indicates that the well was covered. The local post office occupied the site at the turn of the century and older people in the district remembered the well as McEvoy's Well.

121 Barton Road East, Dundrum, Dublin 14.