County: Tipperary Site name: FETHARD: Barrack St. and Burke St.
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 77:45 Licence number: 95E0118
Author: Jo Moran and Dave Pollock
Site type: House - medieval
Period/Dating: Medieval (AD 400-AD 1600)
ITM: E 621445m, N 634848m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.464655, -7.684400
In late September/early October 1995 the sites of two potential housing developments, one beside Barrack St. and the other between Barrack St. and Burke St., were tested for archaeological remains. Both sites lie beyond the medieval town wall.
Three trenches in the Barrack St. site revealed cultivated ground developed for housing in the post-medieval period. A medieval ditch below the houses probably performed the double task of land drain and barrier around the open fields on the east side of the town. A parallel pair of such ditches mayhave defined the medieval road that preceded Barrack St.
Two trenches were cut in the site uphill from Burke St. The long trench, at a right angle to the town wall, revealed cultivation furrows and field boundary ditches running parallel to the town wall. Medieval pottery was recovered from the furrows. The shorter trench, closer to Burke St. and parallel to the wall, revealed mortared stone walling, mud floors, and suggestions of wicker buildings associated with medieval pottery and apparently pre-dating the town wall.
Rathduff, Fethard, Co. Tipperary
