County: Kerry Site name: CASTLEGREGORY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 27:008 Licence number: 97E0487
Author: Laurence Dunne, Eachtra Archaeological Projects
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 462025m, N 613461m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.255546, -10.020992
This test excavation was undertaken following a planning application by Castlegregory Community Council to extend and develop their premises at Tailor's Row, Castlegregory, Co. Kerry. The proposed development site is located near the possible site of Castle Gregory, of which no upstanding remains are visible. However, a number of architectural fragments of the castle survive in various locations around the village. Some of these fragments (including two pieces of an inscribed archway and a gun-loop) have been recently installed as a pseudo-castellated feature outside a supermarket in the village.
The castle was possibly built by one Gregory Hoare, a tenant-in-chief of the Desmonds, most likely in the 16th century. Historical reference is made to the capture of the castle by Sir Charles Wilmot in 1602: 'The fifth of March hee tooke also from the Knight of Kerry, Castle Gregoire and the Rahane his chief manour house' (Pacata Hibernia (1633 edn), 298).
The development site was small and consisted in general of a very neglected back garden on which large amounts of builders' rubble had been dumped. The site was further covered in dense vegetation. This material was first removed by mechanical digger and three areas were selected for excavation. One of the main criteria for selection related to the greatest impact by the proposed development, in this case foundation trenches.
Area 1, measuring 3.2m by 1.4m, contained a fill of rich organic topsoil which varied in depth from 0.5m to 0.65m. This topsoil was removed by machine, with the last 75mm removed by hand. However, it came directly down onto natural as a single stratum. The natural consisted of light sandy material with small stony inclusions and slight oxidation. It was investigated further in case of redeposition, but this proved not to be the case.
Areas 2 and 3 proved to be almost identical to Area 1, except that the depth of topsoil increased to an average of c. 1m. A very large, unhewn, natural boulder was present in Area 2, but otherwise there was little or no difference between them.
No archaeological deposits, artefacts or features were recorded in these test areas. Archaeologically this excavation has shown that the Castle of Gregory did not extend into this development site. Apart from this negative information, little has been added to our knowledge of the castle, other than narrowing down its exact location.
43 Ard Carraig, Tralee, Co. Kerry
