County: Tipperary Site name: CASHEL: Ladyswell
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 61:25 Licence number: 00E0445
Author: Richard O’Brien, ADS Ltd.
Site type: Building
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 607648m, N 640946m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.519839, -7.887299
Monitoring of a house extension was carried out at Ladyswell Street, Cashel, Co. Tipperary, on 22 June 2000 in response to a condition of planning. During the course of this work a wall and a possible well/sump feature were uncovered. A licence upgrade was granted to investigate these features to determine their archaeological potential.
During the excavation, conducted from 23 to 27 June, an additional wall was discovered at right angles to the first. The remains of a stone structure were thus uncovered, and an internal floor surface was revealed. Sealed between this floor level and later structural collapse was a portion of a medieval strap handle, animal bones and six roof nails. Based on the ceramic evidence a terminus post quem in the 14th–15th centuries could be suggested for the final phase of the building. Once the building was found to be medieval in date the excavation ceased. The well/sump feature may have been contemporaneous with the building. However, the upper fills were very disturbed, and safety concerns precluded full investigation. The proposed extension was altered to preserve the portion of the exposed building in situ. This is the earliest medieval building found in Ladyswell Street and is c. 250m north of the (site of the) medieval town gate at Canopy Street.
Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Fairview, Dublin 3
