County: Tipperary Site name: COOLAHOLLOGA (Site A1)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0385
Author: Donald Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Enclosure
Period/Dating: Medieval (AD 400-AD 1600)
ITM: E 585141m, N 680833m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.878184, -8.220730
Site A1 was an extensive site, which incorporated two large enclosures and associated and unassociated features.
Enclosure I consisted of a D-shaped enclosure ditch at the southern extent of the site. The full extent of this was not exposed, and it extended beneath the southern baulk into the neighbouring field. This feature had an average width of 2m and an average depth of 0.7m and was U-shaped in profile. A rotary quern and a possible rubbing stone retrieved from the fill of this enclosure ditch would suggest a medieval date for the enclosure. A gap, which measured 3.5m by 1.5m, evident in the north-western section of the ditch, probably functioned as an entrance. Numerous features were exposed within Enclosure I. Not all are contemporary with the enclosure; there was a post-medieval cultivation furrow, and a hearth and a large pit were cut into the enclosure ditch and were therefore of a later date. A shallow linear feature, the function of which remains unclear, also cuts through the enclosure ditch and appears to be related to a further five linear cuts within Enclosure I. The function of the linear cuts also remains unclear. Numerous features within Enclosure I were, however, contemporary with the enclosure. A total of seven linear cuts exposed within the eastern half of the enclosure could be structurally related, although their exact function remains unclear. Two small pits were found in close proximity to the linear cuts and may also be related. Other contemporary features exposed within Enclosure I include two spreads, an isolated post-hole and three small pits.
A variety of features were exposed west of Enclosure I, including post-medieval cultivation furrows, eleven pits, three post-holes and a possible fourth, three hearths and a possible fourth, a large east–west ditch that ran the length of the site (from which a charcoal sample was taken and returned a date of AD 1471–1644), seven linear slot-trenches, two enclosure trenches and associated features, and six spreads. A further five pits were exposed within the north-western corner of the site.
Enclosure II lay north of Enclosure I and was cut by the east–west ditch, mentioned above, along its southern extent. Again, the full extent of Enclosure II was not exposed, as it extended beneath the northern baulk into the adjoining field. This enclosure varied in width and depth from west to east; to the west a maximum width of 1.6m and a maximum depth of 0.9m were recorded, and to the east a maximum width of 3.3m and a maximum depth of 0.6m were recorded. This enclosure ditch was V-shaped in profile. Two ditches, from a later date, were also cut into the eastern extent of Enclosure II. Numerous features were also exposed within Enclosure II, including five pits, 22 post-holes (which occurred in close proximity to each other but were not structurally clear) and three linear slot-trenches.
Numerous features, including post-medieval cultivation furrows, were also exposed to the east of Enclosure II and north-east of Enclosure I. The majority of these features consisted of pits, seven in total, with two ditches and a hearth.
Finds retrieved from this site include quernstone fragments, rubbing stones, medieval pottery and part of a copper-alloy thimble.
15 Trinity Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth
