1998:041 - CLONROAD BEG, ENNIS, Clare

The site is not within the zone of archaeological potential for Ennis, nor are there any known sites on it. A condition of planning was monitoring, but given the size of the area and the fact that it would be developed in stages it was recommended that testing be carried out in advance of any construction or site works.

The site lay just south of the town centre. To the north are houses fronting Station Road; to the west, houses fronting Clare Road; to the south, houses fronting Ardlee Road; and to the east, a factory (previously the State Inebriate Reformatory) and houses fronting Ard na Gréine.

One boundary divided the site east-west. Phase 1 lay to the south on north-facing, sloping ground. The northern part, Phase 2, was bisected by one north-south field boundary and consisted of fairly level grazing land, except on the east side. Here a ridge of rock outcrop ran north-south parallel to the factory wall but separated from it by a quarry pit and pond.

No finds, features or deposits of archaeological significance were noted in any of the eight cuttings. The only finds noted were late 18th/19th-century pottery and clay pipes.