1998:594 - ST PATRICKSROCK/LADYSWELL/MOOR/ST DOMINICKS ABBEY/CASHEL/LOUHGNAFINA/GREEN/WAILER, Tipperary

From April 1998 to January 1999 a new storm and foul network of pipes was laid in and around parts of the town of Cashel. A licence was held to monitor all ground disturbance works in association with this scheme. In addition to monitoring site works, extensive pre-construction testing was carried out in the following areas: The Green, The Upper Green, McCann Street, The Old Road (Rian Bó Phádraig), William Street, Colliers Lane, Circular Road, Camus Road, Mountjudkin Road, Hore Abbey and a narrow lane to the west of Camus Road.

The scheme provided an opportunity to look at the subsurface archaeological remains in diverse and well-dispersed areas in and around the town. There was pipe-laying inside the medieval walled town (William Street), immediately outside the walled town but close to the Dominican Abbey (Colliers Lane), to the rear of the Rock of Cashel (Circular Road, a road that sweeps around the back of 'The Rock'), possible medieval and/or post-medieval suburban areas (The Green and Upper Green, Camus Road, the lane off Camus Road and McCann Street) and along part of the ancient road known as Rian Bó Pádraig (The Old Road). The scheme was not just concentrated in the town of Cashel. Approximately 3km of pipeline was laid in the town's rural hinterland, extending in a westerly direction from the Treatment Fiant off the Cashel-Tipperary road to the River Suir. It was part of the original design in the scheme to lay new storm and sewer pipes near Hore Abbey, a National Monument. Hore Abbey is in a rural setting, c. 0.8km to the north-west of the town.

The scheme started in April 1998 in areas peripheral to the modern town centre and well outside the walled medieval town. These areas were, however, by and large inside the zone of archaeological potential as defined by the Urban archaeological survey (Office of Public Works, 1993) and may have been the focus of extra-mural suburban activity, of either medieval or post-medieval date. They included the streets The Green, Upper Green, McCann Street and Camus Road. Regarding The Green and Upper Green, an area of the town that is c. 40m to the south of the medieval walled town, there was no evidence to suggest the presence of extra-mural activity of medieval date.

The findings from pre-construction testing and monitoring uncovered evidence of earlier streets. In one substantial test-trench was evidence of two post-medieval metalled surfaces. Following the demise of the lower and earlier surface, there had been infilling with dumped material to raise the street level, and a new, more recent metalled surface was laid, of probable 18th/19th-century date. Other than the post-medieval streets, there was nothing found of archaeological or historical significance. Equally there was no evidence uncovered in McCann Street, a street c. 80m to the east of the walled town, to suggest that there ever was significant medieval or post-medieval activity in this part of the town. This part of the pipeline route proved to be very sterile. There were no traces of earlier street patterns, strata or structures of any significant archaeological date, other than services, found on McCann Street. It could be concluded that there was little or no tendency for the town of Cashel to expand in any large scale in an easterly or southerly direction beyond the walled town during the medieval period and in particular in the earlier part of the post-medieval period.

Another area looked at outside the walled town was Camus Road, 90m to the west of the west circuit of the walled town. Limited evidence was found of archaeological activity. A possible medieval cobbled surface was uncovered during pre-construction testing. The surface was sealed with a rich, black, organic dumped material.

The findings from Camus Road, though limited, tied into those found on the lane off Camus Road. This lane extended in a westerly direction away from the walled town and at right angles to the west of Camus Road. There was a dense network of cobbled surfaces, one superseding the other. In most instances the surfaces were separated by medieval, dumped, organic material. In addition to the medieval deposits and cobbled surfaces a substantial wall was uncovered in section. It was 7m long and had an average height of 0.5m. Though of medieval date, the wall was pre-dated by organic deposits and surfaces. It was not possible to determine the function of the wall. However, the findings from the excavation along the lane confirmed that there was extra-mural activity during the medieval and post-medieval period in this part of the town. Evidence of early streets was uncovered: their demise, the build-up of organic material, the laying of new cobbled surfaces and a substantial medieval wall, a possible wall of a large extra-mural building.

Two other areas investigated, peripheral to the town of Cashel, were the Old Road and Circular Road; both had great archaeological potential. However, bedrock was the predominant characteristic of both. The Old Road is sited to the south of the town and extends into its rural hinterland in a southerly direction. It supposedly coincides with an ancient road known as Rian Bó Pádraig (an SMR site). There was no archaeological evidence found along the pipeline route to suggest that Rian Bó Pádraig ever extended along the part of the Old Road looked at during the scheme. However, a caveat should be noted: the Old Road is either built off or cuts through bedrock. It is possible that any evidence of the ancient road was obliterated during road construction or upgrading.

Circular Road is also outside the medieval town. It sweeps around the rear of the Rock of Cashel. The road itself post-dates 1840. However, its close proximity to 'The Rock' gave this area an added significance. It was borne in mind during the works that this road may have followed the line of an enclosing embankment or ditch that may have enclosed the late 4th/5th-century fortress site, now the Rock of Cashel, that accommodated successive Munster kings. In common with the Old Road there was no archaeological evidence found along the pipeline route that could be associated in any manner with the fortress that supposedly stood on 'The Rock' or, alternatively, with the medieval ecclesiastical centre there. It was quite possible that the activities on 'The Rock', during the first and part of the second millennium AD, were very much contained within this geographically strategic site. Similarly to the Old Road, bedrock was very pervasive throughout the entire pipeline route and in places occurred very close to the modern road surface.

Colliers Lane and William Street in the centre of the town were looked at. Both areas would have been at the heart of or close to commercial activity in the medieval market town. Colliers Lane, though just outside the walled town, would have been close to the activities in the medieval town, and the lane is very near the Dominican Abbey. Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of Colliers Lane was the very high level of disturbance and truncation of deposits by stone-lined culverts and dormant and live services. Any archaeology that may have survived from the medieval and/or post-medieval period would have been destroyed by the extensive ground disturbances along this lane during the late 19th and 20th century.

William Street provided the only opportunity to see what was going on inside the medieval walled town. It was strategically placed between two important medieval streets, John Street and Main Street, and would have extended alongside the backs of properties that fronted onto those streets and burgage plots. Although the trench for the new pipes was quite narrow, archaeological remains of a medieval date were identified during the monitoring of construction works. A post-medieval street surface was picked up. It overlay two earlier surfaces, again both of post-medieval date. The surfaces sealed dumped occupational debris of medieval date. The deposit was typical dumped domestic waste that is very common to medieval towns. No structures of medieval date were uncovered along the pipeline route. The deposits reflect typical medieval activity, the dumping and accumulation of the residue from everyday activities inside a medieval town.

Opportunities were provided on the scheme to look at rural areas near the town. Perhaps the most significant was the area around Hore Abbey. The findings from the test-trenches can be broadly summarised as representing aspects of medieval farming patterns. Agricultural furrows occurred at regular intervals in the test-trenches, a spread of lime, probably used for fertilization, was found in one of the trenches. Several post-holes were dispersed throughout the trenches, which perhaps represented temporary fencing. One sherd of medieval pottery was found in an excavated post-hole-like feature. Most of the post-holes and the agricultural furrows were not excavated. In some places it was only possible to remove the sod as archaeological remains were being encountered. Non-definable stone features and walls occurred immediately beneath the sod in one of the test-trenches. The stone wall in the sixth trench, with its extent still remaining undetermined, may have radiated from the north end of the abbey and extended across the width of the way-leave in a north-west/south-east orientation. The surfaces of both walls were only partly exposed. An extensive array of agricultural furrows and several post-holes were encountered in the trenches. A possible drainage ditch was found, extending across much of the width of the fifth test-trench. The ditch extended in a south-west/north-east direction across much of the trench and headed towards the nearby stream. The presence of drains in the trenches is of no surprise as the soil on the alluvial plain tends to become waterlogged. A drainage network would have been required by the Cistercians to carry out satisfactory cultivation in the fields around the abbey.

The findings from the test-trenches confirmed the presence of walls, which may possibly be associated with the Cistercian Abbey and its ancillary outbuildings or, alternatively, may have been used to demarcate field boundaries. The presence of an extensive network of furrows confirmed that arable farming was carried out. The presence of drains indicated that attempts were made to relieve drainage problems. The existence of post-holes may represent the use of temporary demarcating boundaries in the fields, although their close proximity to the furrows suggests that they may be associated with the cultivation activities in the fields. A significant spread of lime was uncovered in one of the test-trenches. It probably was used for fertilizing the soil. An embankment extends along the northern edge of the field and runs for several hundred metres. Its purpose remains unknown. It may have been a demarcation around the immediate property surrounding Hore Abbey. It should be remarked that there was a distinct difference in the soil make-up on either side of the embankment.

Following the results of pre-construction testing it was decided to reroute the pipeline away from the abbey. The findings from the testing clearly confirmed that the area around Hore Abbey is of great archaeological potential and should be viewed as an archaeological complex. The findings gave a keyhole glimpse into an intensively used medieval landscape and one that was shaped by the progressive Cistercians, the occupiers of the abbey.

1 Jervis Place, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary