County: Tipperary Site name: BALLINTOTTY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 97E0328
Author: Paul Logue, Archaeological Development Services Ltd.
Site type: Castle - tower house
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 590952m, N 678438m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.856792, -8.134341
Excavations were undertaken in advance of a major road construction scheme. The site took the form of a U-shaped river promontory, defended by a ditch and bank on the landward side. It measured 65m x 50m and was split into two parts by the erection of a second bank within the site itself. The ditch was 5-6m wide and up to 1.5m deep. The bank had maximum dimensions of 8m wide and 2m high.
A causewayed entrance lay in the south-west of the site. It was c. 3m wide and was defended by a possibly stone-fronted gate-tower. A metalled and roughly paved roadway led through the outer enclosure to a gateway in the second bank leading to the inner part of the enclosure.
The outer enclosure contained the ruin of a hall-house measuring 13.5m x 10m externally and 10m x 6.5m internally. Only the ground floor survived, to a maximum height of 1.8m from foundation level, with a cross-wall creating two rooms. The partial remains of a staircase were found within a projection in the north wall.
Adjacent to this and adjoining the western wall was the base of a small latrine tower. The entrance was on the ground floor but accessible only along a narrow path between the hall-house and the second bank.
The inner part of the enclosure revealed possible evidence of two smaller buildings constructed on timber sill-beams. The enclosure and all buildings were contemporary and were dated on the grounds of direct association with glazed 13th–14th-century pottery (including sherds of English and French ware) and Henry III coins.
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