County: Offaly Site name: BIRR: Main Street
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 35:12 Licence number: 97E0352
Author: Dominic Delany
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 605890m, N 704840m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.094116, -7.912055
Archaeological test excavation was carried out in advance of a proposed supermarket extension at Main Street, Birr, Co. Offaly, in September 1997. The site is situated between Main Street and Mill Street and occupies the site of the former Shamble Lane, which is one of a number of lanes depicted on Michael Radford’s plan of Birr (1691). An archaeological survey of the lane was undertaken by the Galway Archaeological Services Unit in advance of demolition in January 1996.
The site measures 90m east–west by 10m north–south and the proposed supermarket extension will cover the western half of the site. The initial plan was to excavate two trial-trenches at the site. The trenches were to be located close to the north and south boundaries and were to extend east–west across the entire area of the proposed development. However, this plan was abandoned when an ESB mains, also extending east–west, was encountered in Trench 1. Following consultation with the National Monuments Service, it was decided to limit the testing to Trench 2 and to monitor any further ground disturbances in connection with the proposed development.
The testing and subsequent monitoring indicated that much of the ground across the site had been disturbed by previous developments in this area. A light grey natural silty sand was encountered between 0.25m and 1.3m. The earliest-occurring deposit was a dark greyish-brown clayey silt which was best preserved at the west end of Trench 2. Finds from this deposit suggested that it was 18th- or 19th- century in origin.
No archaeological deposits or features were encountered.
20–21 Main Street, Portlaoise, Co. Laois
