1997:490 - CLONMEL: Grubb's Court, Tipperary

Prior to the commencement of archaeological works, the owner of the site carried out an unauthorised excavation to depths of between 1m and 1.2m below modern ground level.

The site is located in the south-west corner of the town of Clonmel. The west line of the medieval town wall extends along the site’s western boundary.

The east side of the town wall was exposed during the unauthorised excavation works. The wall occurred 1.2m below modern ground level. It was in a poor state of preservation and had in places been quite disturbed owing to the presence of a service pipe and the building of later walls on its surface. A relatively modern rubble wall overlay its surface. Two rubble walls abutted its east side. The town wall was built of unworked sandstone, randomly coursed, and was poorly faced on its east side. It displayed a noticeable outward tilt. Buildings were built off the wall, thus explaining its tilt.

An organic spread was uncovered in the part of the site furthest from the town wall. It occurred at a depth of 2m below ground level and covered an area measuring 3.1m by 2.2m. It ranged in thickness from 0.15m to 0.4m and consisted of a dark brown to black peat-like fibrous material. It was quite compact in situ and had a very high humic content. However, there were no traces of human habitation finds. A yellowish-brown, sterile redeposited boulder clay, 1m thick, sealed the organic spread.

In the part of the site between the town wall and the organic spread there were post-medieval deposits. The upper 1m of the deposits had been removed without archaeological supervision. The post-medieval deposits extended to the boulder clay, which occurred at depths of between 2m and 2.2m below modern ground level.

1 Jervis Place, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary