County: Limerick Site name: LIMERICK: Convent St.
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 5:17 (Limerick City) Licence number: 94E0073
Author: Celie O Rahilly, c/o Planning Dept., Limerick Corporation
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 557759m, N 657543m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.667420, -8.624494
This site is located within the walled town on Convent St., stretching east-west from Convent St. to Bishop's St. Machine excavation was carried out in both May and September 1994.
In the initial investigation, five openings were located along the site. In the first four of these, a layer of dark material occurred below the surface: Cut 1: 0.5m, Cut 2: 0.7m, Cut 3: 0.95m, Cut 4: 0.6m. This material is probably a medieval deposit. However, no features were found.
In Cut 1, at the east end of the site, the natural clay sloped down from west to east. It was concluded that this could represent a ditch which may have defined the original line of the town wall prior to the incorporation of the grounds of St Saviour's Priory within the walled town. There is a reference to this inner town wall in the Civil Survey of 1654. Further openings were made in this area in September in an attempt to clarify this and locate the actual wall. The work, however, only revealed walls of the houses and a possible shed built on the site in the 19th century and there was no trace of any early stone wall which could be identified as a town wall. The eastwards slope of the possible ditch was confirmed and its overlying fill is archaeological. Since this end of the site will not be built on as Bishop's St. is to be widened, excavation was not deemed neccessary.
In the fifth opening, located at the Nicholas St. end of the site, cellars were found, the walls of which might have been of a late medieval town house. Due to the loose fill, it was not possible to examine these in order to confirm this. Further work was attempted in September but due to fencing and an E.S.B. cable, space was restricted. These walls will be left in situ as the proposed development of Local Authority housing will not interfere with them.
A cut stone font was found in the cellar fill. It consists of a block of limestone, 0.23m high. The top part is 0.23m square by 0.11m high with a central circular bowl, 0.18m diameter by 0.1m deep. The sub-circular base measures 0.22m x 0.23m by 0.12m high. The corners at the base of the top are faceted where the change in shape occurs and each side has a flat surface, 1m wide, extending the full height. One face is inscribed across the top with the letters : "P U 1731."
City Hall, Limerick
