1997:028 - MOYS (& ROOLAGH, Co. Tipperary), Clare

This operation was carried out in late April on the River Shannon, between Moys townland, Co. Clare, and Roolagh townland, Co. Tipperary. The site lies approx. 600m below Killaloe Bridge. At this point the river and the canal, which runs along the western shore, are 110m wide and up to 7m deep and have been extensively remodelled. Much of the eastern shore consists of tailings from the dredging operations in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with approx. 400,000 tons of material being removed from the bed.

The project involved the examination, excavation and recording of a 2m-wide trench across the riverbed prior to laying a series of water mains across it. A 10m-wide section across the bed was examined by divers from MAU.

At this point the riverbed was composed of a silty sand and a great many stones, some up to car-sized boulders. These rocks and the bottom were covered by a thick limestone precipitate, up to 0.2m thick. This material was sampled and analysed by Chris Blythe of the CRC, Geography Dept, UCC, to try to estimate the rate of deposition and hence whether the bed was disturbed at this point.

The bed was laned and gridded and surveyed both visually and using metal-detectors. Nothing of archaeological significance was located. The trench for the pipe was then excavated. This was closely monitored as it was removed by an archaeologist, on the surface and at intervals underwater. The trench faces and base were both compact and sterile. The spoil was further examined on the bank. Nothing of archaeological significance was found.

It seems that the bed here was modified in the last century and it is likely that some of the artefacts recovered in the past are from this vicinity. The limestone deposits represented a period of not more than 150 years.

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