County: Kerry Site name: CASTLEGREGORY: Tailor's Row
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 27:8 Licence number: 98E0090
Author: Laurence Dunne, Eachtra Archaeological Projects
Site type: Castle - unclassified
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 461936m, N 613831m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.258843, -10.022456
This test excavation was undertaken following a planning application to construct a dwelling in close proximity to the supposed site of Castlegregory Castle. No upstanding remains of the castle are visible, but a number of architectural fragments survive in various locations around the village. The original castle was possibly built by Gregory Hoare, a tenant-in-chief of the Desmonds, most likely in the 16th century.
The site had been levelled and cleared in the recent past. Four areas were selected for excavation. The trenches were opened by mechanical digger and completed by hand. Trench 1 was 3.7m x 1.5m and excavated to a depth of 1.8m. The loose fill consisted of a build-up of dump material to a depth of 1.5m below a thin sod cover. Finds included modern pottery sherds, shells (predominantly periwinkles) and other modern domestic rubbish, most likely associated with the site clearance.
Trench 2, 4.5m x 1.5m, was excavated to a depth of 2m and aligned east-west. A ditch feature was exposed running in a general north-south direction. The ditch was 3.8-4m wide and had a flat base. The upper fill of the ditch consisted of a shell midden layer predominantly of cockles and periwinkles, with mussels and oysters also represented. The layer also contained some beach cobbles, but no artefacts or charcoal were present.
Trench 3, 6.5m x 1.5m, was excavated to a depth of 0.9–1.5m. A large boulder, 1.5m x 0.9m, was exposed just below the surface and was set in natural material. Overlying the natural was an organic deposit that produced three sherds of glazed earthenware from the late 19th/early 20th century.
Trench 4 was 3.5m x 0.9m and 0.9m deep. Topsoil overlay natural, which occurred at 0.4m. Modern domestic rubbish, including two sherds of modern pottery, was found in the topsoil.
43 Ard Carraig, Tralee, Co. Kerry
