County: Tipperary Site name: CASHEL: Old Road
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 61:135 Licence number: 97E0041 ext.
Author: Jo Moran
Site type: Ringfort - rath
Period/Dating: Early Medieval (AD 400-AD 1099)
ITM: E 607695m, N 640079m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.512038, -7.886626
The site of a housing development to the south of a possible enclosure at Old Road, Cashel, had been tested for archaeological material on 28 February 1997 (Excavations 1997, 160). This was followed by monitoring of topsoil-stripping and the cutting of foundation trenches. No evidence of past settlement was found.
In January 1998 an archaeological investigation of the enclosure bank was carried out as it was believed that landscaping posed a threat to it. A trench 3m wide was initially opened before being narrowed to 1.6m.
Three generations of bank and ditch were identified. The earliest bank and ditch are likely to have formed part of a ringfort. Bone and charcoal in the primary fill of the ditch suggest occupation close by (unlike the clean fills of the two later ditches). Post-holes identified on top of the bank suggest a palisade or fence. No datable finds were recovered from the earliest two banks and ditches. The latest, stone-revetted bank and ditch were associated with post-medieval finds.
33 Woodlawn, Cashel, Co. Tipperary
