County: Tipperary Site name: CLONMEL: Town Hall, Parnell St.
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 83:19 Licence number: 93E0112
Author: Mary Henry
Site type: Burial ground
Period/Dating: Post Medieval (AD 1600-AD 1750)
ITM: E 620145m, N 622350m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.352375, -7.704280
A rescue excavation was carried out in the courtyard of the Town Hall, Parnell St., Clonmel, in mid-summer 1993. The Town Hall is currently undergoing a major renovation and an extension has just recently been completed.
As part of the building project, several trenches were dug to accommodate the laying of service pipes. While digging one of the trenches, the contractor to the building project uncovered some human bone. In light of the possible significance of the find and its location (the site is only 30m to the east of the medieval walled town) an emergency excavation was undertaken.
A total of 23 articulated human skeletal remains were found. The disarticulated skeletal remains consisted of scattered fragments of bone of three individuals which were disturbed by the building of a wall that extended through part of the site. The burials were in pits and the majority were buried in groups of two or more. Three individuals had separate graves and were unassociated with other burials. All of the remains were laid out in an ordered fashion and were aligned east-west. A majority faced east.
It was possible to determine the gender of a large number of the deceased. The sex and age of 15 individuals could be determined. They were all male adults, between the ages of 18 and 45. Two of the individuals died in their teens. It was not possible to identify the sex of two of the individuals. The other six examples were probably males.
The dental records for 16 individuals were available. There was evidence from the teeth to indicate there was clay pipe smoking. For example, on the teeth of five individuals, the characteristic wear pattern associated with "pipe smoker's clench" was present. There was also tobacco staining on the teeth of several individuals. A large number of clay pipe stem fragments and bowls were found with the skeletal remains.
Other finds included the discovery of two pistol balls in the thoraxes of two burials. Three spherical buttons were found beside one of the skeletons. The buttons may have been fashionable in the middle years of the 17th century and it has been suggested that they were used in great numbers on male and female costume. A large quantity of sherds of pottery was found.
The evidence that emerged from the excavation suggests that the remains were buried some time after the mid 1600s.
84 Queen St., Clonmel, Co. Tipperary
