1997:599 - ENNISCORTHY: 26–29 Templeshannon, Wexford

The site is situated to the east of Enniscorthy’s town centre, in the small suburb of Templeshannon, on the east bank of the River Slaney. It is believed that the earliest settlement in Enniscorthy occurred at Templeshannon, which derived its name from the genitive form of Seanan, an Irish saint. St Seanan founded the first church on the site in the early 6th century. A small village grew up around the church. The present ruined church is a later representation of the earlier church and was only 120m from the site of the proposed development.

Test-trenches were opened to establish the presence/absence of archaeological remains in advance of the commencement of any construction works. There were no stratified archaeological deposits in the test-trenches. Naturally deposited sands and gravels occurred over bedrock, which occurred very close to modern ground level. In some instances the bedrock was only 0.3m below the level of the street. In three test-trenches there was a build-up of some modern rubble and stone fill above the naturally deposited sands and boulder clay.

The only find of interest was the presence of a deep circular well. Local residents were previously aware of its presence. The well, circular in shape, was built of subrectangular pieces of shale, had an internal diameter of 0.92m and extended to a depth of c. 18m. It was preserved in situ.

1 Jervis Place, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary