2000:0940 - FETHARD: Watergate Street, Tipperary

The site to be developed was in the middle of the medieval town of Fethard and within the zone of archaeological potential. An archaeological assessment based on pre-development testing was to be prepared.

After visiting the site, it was decided that a brief archaeological and architectural survey would be appropriate to complete the pre-development testing report. The town wall runs in an east–west direction on the south of the site and contains archaeological and architectural features of major importance for the town of Fethard. Four test-trenches were opened. Two were opened manually (Trenches 2 and 4), while the other two were opened mechanically (Trenches 1 and 3).

Trench 1, 2.5m by 0.7m, was orientated north-west/south-east. The concrete paving and its hardcore overlay a thick modern deposit, which consisted of a mid-brown/grey, silty clay with frequent inclusions. A service pipe was dug into this deposit. This deposit overlay an orange, organic, silty deposit, which contained animal bones and charcoal inclusions. No definitive date was attributed to this deposit, which sealed a loose, natural, gravelly deposit. Bedrock was uncovered 0.4m below ground level. It sloped dramatically down towards the river to a depth of 0.82m on the south of Trench 1. No definitive archaeological features or early deposits were encountered in this trench.

Trench 2, 2.4m by 1m, was orientated east–west. A stone/cobble surface was exposed below the concrete cover, made up of medium-sized rounded and sub-angular stones c. 0.1m in diameter. This surface was also uncovered in Trench 3. This late stone surface was truncated by a modern stone wall. The wall, which was 0.7m in width, ran in a north–south direction and was aligned with the remaining eastern wall of a shed located on the north-west of the site. This wall appeared to be a modern extension of the existing shed. The late date of the cobblestone surface was indicated by the fact that it overlay a silty deposit with frequent inclusions of red brick, iron nails and flecks of charcoal and coal. Modern sherds of pottery were recovered from the stratigraphy to a depth of 1.2m below ground level. An organic deposit was exposed 1.2m below ground level. This material was partially investigated through a small trial-hole. It contained occasional animal bones. Its base was not uncovered, as the excavation of the trench stopped at 1.5m below ground level. Although no datable artefacts were recovered from the trial-hole, the consistency and the texture of the organic material indicated that the deposit was medieval.

Trench 3, opened manually in the inside of the existing shed, was 1.5m north-west/south-east by 0.8m. The upper stratigraphy resembled the stratigraphy uncovered in Trench 2. The concrete floor and the hardcore overlay the stone/cobble surface, which was exposed 0.44m below ground level. Modern and post-medieval deposits underlying the stone surface were analysed during the excavation. They all contained late inclusions such as red brick, coal and modern pottery. These deposits sealed the bedrock, which was exposed 1.1m below ground level.

Trench 4, 1.8m east–west by 1.5m, was excavated to a depth of 0.9m. Bedrock was exposed 0.8m below ground level and was sealed by a thick modern deposit. No archaeology was encountered in this trench.

Although no archaeological features were exposed in the test-trenches, a dark organic deposit, of possible medieval date, was exposed in Trench 2, at a depth of 1.2m below ground level.

Considering the architectural importance of the site and of the town of Fethard, it was recommended that an architectural and archaeological survey of all the standing structures be carried out by a qualified archaeologist prior to any development. It was also recommended that no works be carried out on any of the walls and existing buildings on the site without the approval of Dúchas The Heritage Service and the National Museum of Ireland. It was recommended that all digging related to the construction of the two-storey dwelling be restricted to a distance of at least 10m from the town wall.

Owing to the presence of a possible medieval deposit, it was also recommended that all ground disturbances be monitored. The importance of the town of Fethard in medieval times and also in post-medieval times would require a meticulous recording of all the deposits and standing structures exposed during the monitoring of ground disturbances.

Seamount, Upper Rosses, Rosses Point, Co. Sligo