County: Kerry Site name: TRALEE: Abbey Carparks Complex
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0433
Author: Michael Connolly, Aegis Archaeology Ltd.
Site type: Religious house - Dominican friars
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 483475m, N 613453m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.260432, -9.706972
The pre-development testing in this area involved the opening of trenches in three separate public carparks: Tesco, The Tannery and The Abbey carpark. The Abbey carpark is on the reputed site of the Dominican Priory of the Holy Cross, founded in 1243 and finally destroyed in 1652.
Four trenches were opened in the Tesco carpark, but no archaeological strata were encountered.
Seven trenches were opened in The Tannery carpark, and, while the remains of the old Tannery (closed in the late 1950s) were encountered, no archaeological strata were uncovered.
Eighteen trenches were excavated within the bounds of The Abbey carpark (Trench Nos 1–12, 17, 18, 20, 36, 37 and 38), and all available areas were investigated (trenches had to be moved or split to avoid services—water, electricity and telephone). In order to keep traffic disruption to a minimum, the road network through the carpark was also left substantially untouched, although trenches were excavated along the full length of the roadway edge. The testing strategy was chosen to give the best possible picture of the archaeological remains and strata, if any, preserved under the carpark.
Of the eighteen trenches excavated, twelve contained intact walls (Nos 1–9, 11, 12 and 36), eight contained articulated burials (Nos 1–3, 5, 8, 9, 20 and 37), while tombs were recorded in three of the trenches (Nos 1, 8 and 20). Decorated and shaped architectural fragments of both limestone and red sandstone were recovered from a further ten trenches (Nos 3–6, 8, 11, 12, 20, 36 and 38).
The least productive trenches were those dug around the periphery of the carpark: Trench No. 10 in the south-west corner, Trench Nos 11B and 17 along the eastern side, Trench Nos 18 and 37A at the northern end.
The uncovered walls, burials and architectural fragments indicate that there are substantial remains of the priory under The Abbey carpark. The extant walls represent remains of the priory church, cloister and range buildings and indicate that the church was extended (addition of an aisle, transept and possibly a tower) in the late 15th–early 16th century.
16 Avondale Court, Corbally, Limerick
