County: Kerry Site name: CASTLEMORRIS, Ballymullen, Tralee
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 29:163 Licence number: 99E0269
Author: Laurence Dunne, Eachtra Archaeological Projects
Site type: Castle - tower house
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 484575m, N 613453m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.260664, -9.690869
As part of an assessment of the proposed demolition of an existing house and the construction of nine townhouses close to a tower-house at Castlemorris, test excavations were carried out.
Castlemorris tower-house was a Geraldine fortification constructed on the northern bank of the Lee River to protect the southern approach from Gaelic south Kerry and also to protect the first fording point of the Lee from the Tralee Bay approach. The tower-house was constructed in the 15th century by the Morris family. The relict remains of this once-four-floored castle consist of its western, northern and eastern walls only. The ground floor is barrel vaulted, and an intramural stairway is visible in section in the east wall.
Three test-trenches were excavated by hand. Trench 1 measured 5m x 2m; Trench 2 measured 6m x 2m; and Trench 3 measured 4m x 3m. Trenches 1 and 2 were opened along the route of the proposed development foundation areas, and Trench 3 was in the vicinity of the proposed carpark, close to the upstanding remains.
The results in all three trenches were the same. On removal of topsod it was immediately apparent that loose fill had been introduced to raise the ground level in an effort to curb seasonal flooding. The owner confirmed that dredging material from the river had been introduced to level the garden in the 1970s. This fill was on average 0.3m deep. The underlying stratum was black, loose dump material, strewn with bottles, bricks, metal etc. This fill was excavated to an average depth of 1.2m. It appeared to have been introduced to the site in the late 19th or early 20th century. Stratified below this was a layer of grey alluvium clay, no doubt laid down in the course of regular and seasonal flooding from the Lee River.
Excavations did not proceed below this alluvium as the proposed development will have raft foundations, which will not intrude or destroy any subsurface archaeological deposits that may still exist below this level.
Nothing of archaeological significance was found during test excavations to the south of Castlemorris tower-house.
3 Canal Place, Tralee, Co. Kerry
