2000:0085 - KILLALOE: John Street, Clare

This site, measuring 11m north–south by 7.5m, was test-trenched as part of planning requirements for a dwelling-house. A modern wall ran along its western boundary with John Street. There were no extant remains visible before excavation. Four trenches were excavated in the areas of the proposed dwelling walls: Trench 1, 3m (north–south) by 1m, Trench 2, 3m (north–south) by 2m, Trench 3, 3m (north–south) by 1m, and Trench 4, 1.7m (north-west/south-east) by 2m.

Four main phases of activity were identified and are summarised from earliest to latest.

Phase 1 included a stone-filled drain and a cut feature. No datable evidence was found for these features, but they were sealed by a post-medieval spread.

Phase 2 was a cobble surface found in Trenches 1 and 2, which is possibly contemporary with the cobble road on John Street.

Phase 3 covers two walls, C9 and C15, found in the south and east of the site. They most likely represent those marked on the Griffith’s Valuation map of 1855. It can also be suggested that a building similar to those that once stood along the eastern side of John Street once stood here, because the remains of the walls are of similar form to the extant façades to the south. These two walls therefore probably represent the office and yard rented by John Winder in 1855 (Griffith 1855). The relationship between the cobbles and the walls is unclear, as the cobble surface was not found in the trenches with the walls.

Phase 4 covers an organic deposit C2, and a rubble deposit over it was found throughout the site. Because C2 was found over the plinth of wall C15 it may represent a rotted wooden floor but may also have contained some roof timbers, as slates were found on its surface. Since 20th-century pottery and a 1940 coin were found in C2 and since a building is marked on the site on the 3rd edition 25-inch OS map of 1938, it can be suggested that the building collapsed after 1940, resulting in the layer of rubble found throughout the site.

It has been suggested that the north-easterly curve of John Street may indicate the original boundary of the ecclesiastical enclosure of Cell da Lua (Bradley et al. 1988). No evidence for this was found, as building activity in the area probably destroyed any remains.

References
Bradley, J. et al. 1988 Urban Archaeological Survey. County Clare. Unpublished, OPW.
Griffith, R. 1855 Valuation of the several tenements,…in the counties of Clare and Galway. Dublin.

Wood Road, Cratloekeel, Co. Clare